Serenity's Story
by Kyralih
Summary: A pre-Silver Millennium tale of how Serenity, a senshi from across the galaxy, rose from the ashes of her broken planet and found new beginnings for herself and her child on the small moon of a distant world…
1. Chapter 1

"It… it's over," the sailor senshi whispered, falling to her hands and knees. Her fuku was torn and covered in blood, her staff lay feet away from her, rolling after it fell from her hands. Her iridescent wings were torn, hanging limply from her back. "It's over," she said louder as tears rained down on the barren surface of the planet. No wind blew, no blade of grass grew or trickle of water sounded. The planet was dead, stripped of its atmosphere and life forms in the final battle against Necroma, an embodiment of Chaos. "I did it, Eos," the senshi's voice broke as her eyes flooded over with the memory of her fallen teammate. The other senshi's body had evaporated in the blast, but she remembered every line in her face when she was upset, every uplifting smile, the sound of her voice when she laughed. The senshi collapsed even further, landing on her bare elbows, her tiara touching her balled fists. Her thoughts of her partner faded, as if she was just walking away, simply leaving for another game… but Eos would never shoot a bow again, or dance with her in the rain. Her heart ached, but as the Eos of her mind disappeared, a tall, strong young man replaced her. The senshi held her breath, trying to contain the feeling of loss and helplessness as the strikingly beautiful blond smiled at her.

"_Serenity_," he called, spreading his arms wide and welcoming.

"Hy-per-i-on," she whispered, sobs breaking her speech. "HYPERION!" she yelled again, screaming out her sorrow, her unbelievable pain at losing the person she cared for the most. He was gone. He was dead. There was no coming back. She fell onto a ball on her side, clutching herself in an attempt to feel whole, like she hadn't just had her world taken from her, but it was no use. She lay there and sobbed, the figments in her head keeping her company but giving her no solace, only the intense feeling that she would never be whole again.

Sometime later, her throat sore from sobbing, her head feeling thick from crying and her body aching from the battle, Sailor Theia opened her eyes, gazing at the dead surface that had been the planet Okeanos. Without an atmosphere she could clearly see into space. For a while, she just watched the debris from the planet float by. It might form a ring system someday, or would come crashing back down in a fiery meteor storm; either way, Sailor Theia was not going to be there to witness it.

The thought was concrete in the sea of listlessness that was her consciousness, but she couldn't root out its source. All she wanted to do was stay here, with them. Even without landmarks she could see their home, each café and park, the houses in the city, the castle and its gardens. He was here only hours ago, encouraging her to do her best and comforting her over the loss of Eos. She could clearly see him in their rooms… and Eos, her ponytail of golden hair bouncing as they raced to random landmarks in happier times. Eos had always won, but she was always a great sport about it. Sailor Theia smiled and new tears threatened to break through, but she had nothing left to give. She remembered them so clearly, and all she wanted to do was be here remembering them forever, so why was she so stubbornly certain that she would be leaving?

Perhaps it was her sailor crystal, telling her to move on, find another planet that needed a guardian. Okeanos was dead and would remain so; there was no hope for recovery with such extensive decay.

Maybe it was better that Eos had died before the final confrontation. Her death was quick; she hadn't had to endure the agony a senshi faced when their guardian planet was destroyed. … Eos had watched the death of her mother and that had been enough to incapacitate her with grief. Serenity doubted whether she would have survived the destruction wrought today. … she didn't know how she was doing it. Part of her wished she had died with them, but that one inexplicable feeling rejected the very idea.

The planet spun on, turning ever towards its star, and the senshi lay motionless, thinking of nothing as the planet grew cooler beneath her. Hours passed both quickly and eternally for Serenity. She had no motivation, no will to do anything but stay there for the rest of her life.

Theia broke over the horizon, the star's light bringing the new crags and rough mountain peaks into high relief, their shadows reaching out for the lonely senshi. As her skin was kissed by the morning rays, the reasoning behind those odd, stubborn thoughts became suddenly clear to Serenity. She grabbed her staff pulled herself to her feet, her ankle giving way so that she had to lean on her weapon as one would a crutch. Her left wing twittered feebly, her right refused to work, still drooping its gossamer form against her tattered fuku. She breathed deeply, absorbing as much of her guardian star's strength as she could muster to repair her broken body, and laid one hand to rest on her abdomen.

"I remember now, my Hyperion," she spoke into the void, her tiny voice lost amongst the span of nothingness that used to be their home. Already her strength was returning, as if her star was giving its blessing for the plan blooming in her mind. "I can't believe that I could have forgotten, even for a moment, but I remember now," she declared, her voice confident and full of power. She began to shine in the light of Theia, her outline glowing brighter as she rose into space, her staff creating a bubble-shield around her to protect her from the debris. Her wings were working now, beating softly as the blue-eyed guardian ascended. Her body and outfit were repaired, her ankle mended and her skirt new as power flushed over her. "I promise you, my love," she projected her voice as she broke away from the cloud of dirt, rubble, and broken dreams. "I will protect our child!" 


	2. Chapter 2

She flew for what felt like days, still at high speeds, tearing across space without really knowing where she should turn. The stars were growing closer together, the way forward significantly brighter than what she left behind in her wake. Eventually she found she was surrounded by light, and only then did she know where she was. She slowed her breakneck pace as the realization hit her – she had found the Galaxy Cauldron, where stars are born and sailor crystals are created, the holiest place in the galaxy.

An idea suddenly struck her and she stopped completely. There was no way to guarantee the future safety of their child, but there was a chance that she could provide him or her with a means to protect him- or herself. She sped forward and landed on the grounds of the shrine, powering down before her high heels touched the surface. She walked through the impressive open hallways towards the central shrine, considering her sudden inspiration.

If their child were a senshi, he or she would be provided with an inherent protection all its own. They could defend themselves from chaos if she failed to find a suitable system; perhaps, if their child was a planetary or solar guardian, he or she would have a better chance.

Her heels clicked on the marble eerily, echoing in the silence of the holy ground. Incredibly large double-doors were before her in the distance.

The probability that the child within her was a senshi was minimal – her lover had not been a guardian and Okeanos was the only planet in their system, so there was no need of a sailor guardian for where she was from and no chance that the sailor crystal for Okeanos had reformed so quickly. But there had to be some way for her to assure her child received a sailor crystal. As she pushed the door open the solution came to her – she would give it hers.

She was on a precipice overlooking the greatest sight Serenity had ever beheld. Below her, running deep and full, there was a soft whirlpool of light and color, slowly spinning and turning gracefully within the confines of the circular chamber. It was as if a rainbow had been broken into pieces and sprinkled onto sunlit cloud… these glittering bits would disappear in droves and were replaced almost immediately with more. Every now and again a larger colorful piece broke off and shot up into the sky, out into space through a hole in the ceiling. A sailor crystal, off to find its planet or star. … and almost just as often as the crystals were released, small coals of black dislodged themselves from the sides and shot skyward as well – agents of darkness, spreading discord as often as senshi were dispatched to spread peace and love.

She reeled at the sight of this dark matter being allowed to leave this place. How easy it would be to just end them now, before they caused any harm… yet she could do nothing without risking the anger of the cauldron. She instead watched these bits of darkness, wondering where they would go, whose lives they would ruin.

"Hello, shining star," Serenity's attention was diverted with the sudden appearance of a small guardian. "Why have you come?"

Serenity smiled, feeling in her heart and soul that this was the best option, the only course of action that would do. "Guardian of the Galaxy Cauldron," she began, "I come to you because I have within me the shell of a new star. I would like to protect this star with everything that I have; please, before a star seed is given to my child, let me give it my own sailor crystal to keep it safe."

The small guardian quirked her head to one side, "doing this would kill you – your sailor crystal is your own star seed. Once the child is born you would fade away and die, without the option to live here forever with your fellow senshi or to be reborn again. Do you still ask this of me?"

She hadn't known she had choices after death. … she could live forever with Eos, if she chose… She gazed down into the swirling multicolored light and wondered if Eos was there now, smiling up at her through the mist, her playful purple eyes promising friendship and acceptance. They could be together again and stay together forever… but then what would come of Hyperion? What was his destiny? Their sailor crystals were passed on, and so she and Eos would always have a mark on the universe – there would always be something of them left behind, but Hyperion wasn't a senshi, a guardian of planets. His only mark, his claim to immortality, would be his child. His child would keep his blood alive, keep his features shining in this world. Serenity wondered if this child would have his smile…

She had made her decision. "Yes," she replied, "I would give my life to see that this child is taken care of, even if it means an eternity of oblivion." The thought frightened her, but not as afraid as she was when she faced Necroma alone. The fear wasn't a fraction as deep as the panicked anxiety she faced when she saw Hyperion running towards her… Hyperion, was that what he faced now? Banished to an unknowing, unseeing fate? If he could face it, so could she. If she could give her child her chance to exist forever or to reborn again, she would do so, gladly.

Her only regret would be that she would never see the child grow up, to thrive and to live. She would never see what it would become. Would it have his smile, his eyes? Would it be tall like him, or share his love of sweets? Would it inherit her mother's love of music, or her own silver eyes? What would its favorite color be? There was so much she would never know about Hyperion's child, and even more that she would never get to experience. She would never get to dance with them, or make them their favorite snack. She would never see their first victory in a game, or cheer them on from the sidelines. She would never be there to pick them up when they fall, or to comfort them when they were scared, to cheer them up when they were sad or hug them when they were lonely… though she was giving them the greatest gift she could, she hoped they did not resent her for leaving them alone.

No. She would find a place for them to thrive, find people who would raise her and love her completely, a place where she would never feel lonely. There was no room for tragedy in this life she held within her – she would make sure of that.

"Sailor Theia, if you are certain, call upon the power of your star, and I shall do the rest." The small sprite closed her eyes and grasped her star-bedecked staff, a look of sadness about her. Was she upset that Serenity was sacrificing her chance? She shouldn't be. This was one of the greatest moments of her life. She was doing it - she was giving her child the greatest chance she could ever have hoped to bestow.

Gratefully and passionately, Serenity cried out "Theia Star Power!" She held her hands in front of her heart. The power, familiar and welcoming, flowed outward from her chest, enveloping her in warmth and love. She closed her eyes to revel in this feeling, but just as she felt she was at her greatest strength, the power started leaving her, exiting out of her chest like water out of a hole in a dam. As the last tendril of the warmth of her star left her, Serenity's body ached for its familiarity just as her heart soared with the knowledge that their child would know Theia's warmth. She sighed and opened her eyes, wondering if she would feel the transfer to the child.

Right in front of her was a small, completely spherical crystal, shining with pure yellow light and slowly revolving. She knew it immediately by its feeling – "Theia?" she wondered aloud, fighting the urge to hold her familiar friend close to her. Was this her sailor crystal? The source of her power and her life, the anchor that connected her to her home… it was so beautiful. But why was it here? Shouldn't it be within their child?

"Yes, shining star," the guardian nodded, her large eyes brimming with happiness, "you were willing to throw your future away, to give your very life-force to protect this child. For your selflessness and charity, the cauldron has decided to bless you both." With her staff she indicated the multi-faceted gem. "That is your sailor crystal, and it will also serve as the sailor crystal of the daughter growing within you. You will share the crystal for so long as you live, and she will inherit it after you die; in this fashion, you both can live together – your life shall not be forfeit when she is born."

As the realization hit her, Serenity's strength left. They were going to have a daughter? She fell to her knees, noticing only faintly that the crystal followed her down, still hovering before her. They were going to have a daughter. Their daughter would inherit the power and protection of Theia, and she would be allowed to be there with her as she grew. She could be with her, could teach her and raise her and love her. She would know their child, hers and Hyperion's. Their daughter.

"However, this gift does not come without a catch, shining star."

Serenity returned her attention to the guardian, soaking in all of the information about this gift, this incredible miracle, that she could.

"While this crystal will still follow your orders and allow you to use its powers while you live, it will never fully be a part of you again. This crystal is now unique in that it belongs to two senshi and exists outside of both of you, but know that at any one time, only one of you can actively use its awesome power. While it is under your control, your daughter will never be able to transform; while she is transformed, you will be unable to access its powers. If it breaks, you both shall die. The crystal will sustain and take energy from each of you, growing still as your young daughter develops to fulfill its ultimate potential. Yes, the crystal will change and grow with your daughter, shining star, not you.

"As this crystal has been blessed by the Galaxy Cauldron and belongs to two senshi, it shall have within it the protective powers of two celestial bodies. When you leave this place, seek out a home without the protection of a senshi and make it your own. This crystal will absorb the latent sailor crystal within itself, combining the new strength with that of the star Theia and becoming something entirely new. It will set its allegiance with your new home, and the star Theia will never again have its own senshi. That is the final catch – once you find your home and bless it with the light of Theia, you will never be able to transform into a senshi again."

She would never be allowed to transform again upon finding a home, she would change the nature of her sailor crystal forever – part of Serenity felt like she was betraying the connection she had made with her star, her Theia, but she just knew, deep in her heart, that this is what the star had approved as she left their system. Theia would help her protect their daughter, even if it was leaving its own system without a guardian. That Serenity would never be able to transform again made sense to her – she was Sailor Theia, and once her sailor crystal no longer belonged to Theia, it really didn't belong to her anymore, either. They crystal would be something different, and while it allowed her to use it, it was not really part of her. She understood.

But that she could not transform to protect their daughter, or help her if she was in trouble as a senshi was troubling. Serenity would have to be careful, she would need to come up with other ways to keep their young daughter safe if they were to share this crystal. She would find a way.

"Do you still accept, with these conditions placed upon you?"

Serenity stood, the crystal following her ascent. "Yes."

The crystal spun faster and faster, glittering brilliantly and bathing them in pure light. Serenity closed her eyes, and when the light receded she held out her hand to catch the small crystal, the only sailor crystal in the galaxy that existed outside of its senshi, the only one to belong to more than one.

"It is done," the guardian of the Galaxy Cauldron opened her eyes and blinked in shock. With a smile she said, "It seems that along with its two protectors, this sailor crystal shall retain some of the power it absorbed here, at the place where stars are born. Take care of it, shining star." There was something odd behind the look in the sprite's eyes, a look that suggested she knew more than she let on.

Serenity smiled, "I will. Thank you, Guardian of the Cauldron." Holding the crystal in one hand, Serenity turned away from the terrible beauty of the cauldron and retraced her steps out of the shrine, the guardian's parting revelation sparking a plan for the next step she would take in ensuring their daughter's peaceful, happy future. If this crystal had absorbed some of the power of the Cauldron, perhaps it, too, could perform miracles…


	3. Chapter 3

Like a shooting star, Sailor Theia flew through space, searching for her new home…

It had been just over year and still Serenity had not found a suitable system. What she was looking for was one that held many dead planets within it – her plan was this: while she, Serenity, lived, her child would not have full control of the crystal and so would need protectors. Serenity would use the power of their crystal to see if she could awaken the latent sailor crystals of those dead planets and bring the senshi to live with her, to befriend and protect her child with their own powers. They would live in peace. Her daughter would be safe. She wouldn't lose another loved one, not again.

Her pregnancy was starting show at this point and Serenity began to tire, having to stop and rest on planets every few weeks or so. Though this was alright at this point because she was still coving a lot of ground, she knew that as the child grew she would need to stop more frequently to provide the crystal with more energy and time to recover…

At first she had been distressed about the apparent lack of development of her child, but as she traversed the vast emptiness between worlds a realization had come to her: she had been sustaining herself using the energy of the crystal alone, but that crystal didn't just belong to her anymore. She had heard somewhere that the star seed worked with the mother's body to provide the fetus with strength and nourishment, the mother providing the latter and the star seed providing the former. Their crystal was doing both of those things and more, providing her with the energy to stay transformed and the energy to fly through space on top of the maternal energy and fetal. It had been delegating energy usage, providing as little as possible to keep the child growing and sustain Serenity's own life energy, and threw the rest of its vast powers into her transformation and flight.

When she recognized what was going on she had felt thankful – she was given so much more time to search. The gestation period of her people was nearly a year and a half long, almost double the regular timeframe to make up for their extended, millennia-long lifetimes, but using what she knew of her pregnancy and comparing it with the normal fetal development, she calculated that this child would be born roughly three years after its conception. She had two more years to search, probably only a little over a year and a half to really find some place they would fit.

She had been feeling weak for a few days now and was searching for some place to rest, maybe get something to eat – like cake. She had to have cake. And beef. Maybe not together, but at the same seating. The crystal was usually excellent at keeping hunger at bay, but there was no helping these strong cravings that Hyperion's daughter was sending her way. She had definitely inherited his tastes, she acknowledged as her taste buds screamed for frosting and steak sauce simultaneously. There was no negotiating the point – despite wanting to move on, she had to give the crystal a chance to recover and get something sweet. She turned her direction towards the nearest system and used an energy sweep to locate a habitable planet, honing in on its signature and aimed to get there as quickly as possible.

Just as she was coordinating her landing, she felt a soft kick from within. Completely shocked, she bungled her position and, instead of landing just outside of a city, she landed precisely in someone's garden. But that didn't matter. She would apologize for the broken plants later. … her daughter had kicked. She was alive and well, and healthy. Sailor Theia grinned, her hand on the small bulge that housed her precious, precious child. Her hand was met with another kick. She laughed. It was as if the girl wanted to get a move on, to go find some cake.

"Don't worry, little one, I'm working on it," she said, coming to her feet without too much difficulty with the aid of her staff. She had landed right next to a house, and in one of the darkened windows she saw a reflection of herself, the first in quite some time. Her hair, in her static pigtailed buns, was remarkably well put together, not a strand out of place, though her dark silver bangs could stand to be cut. The tiara of her fuku was slightly twisted, so she took a moment to straighten out the fine golden chain, laying it flat against her forehead. She did the same for the trio of golden chokers, which had become twisted and entangled with one another despite their various lengths. Sometimes she wondered if her choker was supposed to be a braid, as much as they tangled themselves up. Her collar was fine, her broach in place, and her gloves, despite being smudged with dirt, came right up to where they were supposed to. Atop her staff, right in the middle of the symbolic setting, was her sailor crystal, still faintly pulsating with Theia's light and warmth. Her wings reflected some of the planet's sunlight with an almost dew-like effect that she rather liked… then came the belly. She smiled at herself and caressed the bulge. She looked silly – no pregnant person should have to wear a senshi fuku - the short skirt looked ridiculous! She couldn't even see her golden heels anymore; she just trusted that they were still there. She sighed and was about to power down when the door of the house opened.

A woman with long, thick and wavy purple hair stepped out, looking over at her curiously. She had a cat-like quality about her, but Serenity couldn't quite figure out why…

"Hello," she greeted, stepping over the bush and onto the grass of the stranger's lawn. She approached the girl, stopping at a conversational distance. "I'd like to apologize for ruining your garden," Serenity nodded back towards the mess of flowers. "I misjudged the landing," she explained, offering a smile to the confused looking person. She transferred her staff to her left hand and offered the woman her right, "I am Sailor Theia."

The woman stared at her for a moment, her large blue eyes flickering from her face to her stomach. Tentatively she took Sailor Theia's hand, squeezing it in welcome, "I'm Luna," she introduced, still looking almost dazed.

"Luna? Who's there with you?" a voice called from inside the house. Luna didn't answer, still staring in something akin to shock. "Luna?" the owner of the voice was approaching, by the sound of it; sure enough, the two women were soon joined by a tall man with long white hair. "Oh – hello," he said, blinking with surprise. He, too, gave her the oddest impression of a cat, but then his movements were so purposeful and graceful a cat certainly described him well.

Luna turned her head toward the new arrival, "Artemis," she said, still staring at Serenity, "This is Sailor Theia. She landed in our garden."

Artemis offered his hand and she shook it, as well. "Nice to meet you, Artemis."

"Pleasure's all mine," he replied, incredulity in his voice. "So, uh… are you new in town?"

Sailor Theia laughed, her hand reflexively covering her mouth, "No, just passing through. We're in for a snack break and a bit of a rest," she explained, thinking it was better to be truthful up front about her intentions. Perhaps they could show her where to find a good sweets shop, or a place she could stay. Perhaps the senshi of Mau would house her for a few days as the crystal rejuvenated itself?

"Oh, well then, Welcome to Mau," the man said with a smile. Luna nodded, her expression still mystified.

"Thank you," Sailor Theia replied with a hint of a curtsey. "I'd hate to trouble you further, but could either of you show me the nearest place where I could satisfy a sweet-tooth? She's craving vanilla cake with extra frosting," she laughed as her point was emphasized by a grumble in her stomach.

Artemis looked to Luna for a second, who showed no sign of waking up from her daze. Deciding, the white-haired young man raised his arm, pointing out the direction as he spoke, "There's a really great little café that sells stuff like that – "Café FrosTing". It's one of Luna's favorite places – you want to take a left down this street, another left at Herring – that'll take you straight into town. The café's on the third street in on the left. The owner's a really nice young lady, she'll help you out."

She smiled again, "Thank you very much for all of your help. Have a great day!" she turned down the path, but hadn't reached the end of the walkway before she was called back.

"Please wait!"

She turned to see Luna hurrying down the path. When the purple-haired girl caught up, she grasped Serenity's hand gently and looked her in the eye. "I'm sorry, it was just so sudden, what with whom you are and your sudden appearance at _my house_ of all places, and in your condition – it was just a little too much for me to take in all at once!" The girl was incredibly sincere, her tone even apologetic as she explained what had happened. "Won't you come in? We were just about to sit down for tea." Serenity reflected on this girl – she was so honest, so sweet and straightforward. Her consideration was taken to be hesitation, as Luna quickly added, "I have cake!"

Her daughter kicked again and Serenity broke out in laughter, "Alright!" she accepted and allowed herself to be pulled into the cute little house by an eager and attentive Luna.

Inside, Luna prepared tea as Artemis showed Serenity into the living room, his face alight with friendliness and humor. After telling him what she was doing as to not alarm him, Serenity powered down, catching the sailor crystal as it started to fall to the ground. It never disappeared inside of her anymore, but that was part of the deal; already she felt that the crystal was under much less of a strain than it had been.

Feeling a lot better, she sat where Artemis indicated on a plush lilac-colored couch and he was thoughtful enough to bring her a small teal cushion for her back. She thanked him, but he brushed her thanks away, saying it was no trouble at all. Luna soon entered with a tea tray and poured three cups of steaming tea as Artemis went to fetch the snacks. Just as Luna had promised, there was an array of tiny cakes that the little on inside of her was only too happy to smell. With her first bite she was sold – this had to be the best tasting cake she had ever had.

The talk over tea was light and stress-free. Her host and hostess thoughtfully spoke only of the present, though their glances occasionally drifted to the sailor crystal Serenity had placed in her lap to keep it from rolling away. She didn't blame them – they didn't know what it was. They were cat-like, for goodness sakes; curiosity was part of their nature. As Serenity soon found out, they were even more like cats than she had ever thought, as the citizens of Mau had a special ability: in times of stress or great excitement, these people could actually transform into felines! This surprise was followed with a great discussion of the history of Mau, its development and its government. Serenity found out that Mau was ruled by an ancient line of royalty and looked after by their senshi, Sailor Mau.

"I should probably announce my presence with them formally," Serenity said, finishing off her third slice of cake. The atmosphere around them all had only thickened with time – she felt like she could really trust these two. They were so open and truthful; they both possessed pure hearts, there was no question of that.

"You don't have to go just yet!" Luna exclaimed, reaching over to hold Serenity's hand, "you should rest – you've been travelling for so long."

"My brother works at the palace; I'll go talk to him, he'll get me a meeting with Sailor Mau. I'll tell her what's up, she'll speak to the King and Queen, and we'll get something set up for a later time, say, tomorrow," Artemis suggested. Luna shook her head emphatically.

"You two really are too much!" Serenity laughed.

"Good! It's settled then," Artemis declared as he stood. "You stay here; I'll go make the arrangements." He wandered over and touched Luna on the cheek, "I'll come back later with the plan and to wish you a good night. Have a nice rest, Serenity!" With a smile he left.

"Come on, I'll show you the guest room," Luna offered her hand to help her stand then did as she promised.

Soon Serenity was in a plush bed, snuggled into soft sheets and blankets that smelled of lavender, and sleeping soundly….

… but not without dreams.


	4. Chapter 4

_Serenity awoke amongst the trees, the wind rustling their branches to create a base for the chorus of singing tree-frogs, crickets, and the occasional bird. It was twilight, Theia's light having all but left the skies, stars twinkling into sight between the leafy branches above her. Someone was breathing softly to either side of her. Instinctively she knew who they were – the deeper breathing to her right was Hyperion, sleeping soundly and with reach. Moving her hand slowly as to not disturb Eos, who slept curled up on her side with her arm across Serenity's stomach, the silver-haired girl reached for and found Hyperion's hand. She placed hers under his and felt the smallest of pressures as his fingers grasped hers. Her lips found their way easily into a smile, his love evident in just one touch._

_She turned her head to gaze at Eos, whose lips, too, were curled into the sweetest of smiles. The arm crossing over her tightened its grip, pulling Eos's small body closer to her until her blonde head was snuggled in against Serenity's shoulder. This was how it was supposed to be. They had fought in so many battles together to protect their planet; this era of peace was well-deserved. Her heart filled, she watched the stars above, waiting for her dear ones to awaken… but she must have fallen asleep._

_ It seemed that as soon as she opened her eyes the scene was completely different. She was transformed, running down a corridor in the palace and feeling a fear so great she almost cried out. Beside her, her boots pounding out a steady rhythm, ran Eos – no, Sailor Okeanos, her face a pale mask of fright and determination. All around them the walls trembled, before them was a mist of darkness._

"_What's wrong?" she yelled to be heard above the din. "What's happened?" she felt confused, but knew she should know this. She had been here before, had seen this happen; her heart was filled with dread._

_ "Necroma." the golden-haired senshi's voice trembled, "He's got my mother, Sailor Theia." Tears broke free at the corners of her eyes, spilling down her cheeks as the girl fought back a sob._

_ The hall ended at the entrance to one of the great rooms and they both jumped, their wings pumping furiously as they took to the air. The great columns were falling around them as dust and rocky debris rained down on them from above. They wove around the obstacles, desperate to reach the exit._

_ "OKEANOS RAGING WATERS!" the blond senshi screamed, directing her attack at the wall before them. Water rushed from her outstretched hand, completely obliterating the surface and forming a huge hole that they both easily flew through. Outside the palace, chaos reigned. Smoke rose from multiple buildings, people screamed as phages hunted them down. Horrified, Theia turned and aimed her staff, but Okeanos doubled back and pulled her on, "My mother!"_

_ They kept flying – Necroma was going to kill the queen in the open to destroy the spirits of the people, to weaken their resolve to fight his takeover. The people of Okeanos were brave, but, while their beloved senshi fought to protect them, their hearts and souls belonged to the Queen that they adored, Eos's mother. If she died, the people might just crumble and it would truly be left on their shoulders to save everyone._

_They broke free of the buildings and came across the promised scene – there was Necromos, clad in darkness and terror. He stood over two stories tall, his face of rotting flesh smiling out at them all. The people of Okeanos were gathered around them, their weapons still raised to fight against his army of the dead, but they were all frozen, every face upturned to watch the scene taking place. Gripped in his hand at his eye level was their queen, her golden hair crusted with blood, her dress tattered and torn. She looked at him defiantly, but she was completely pinned, her arms pinned to her side by the creature of darkness and blood spilling freely from her back. Where were her wings?_

_ Theia halted to observe the scene, but Okeanos went against their usual strategy and flew straight towards Necroma, her arm extended for another attack. "OKEANOS—"_

_ Necroma laughed and swatted her aside like a fly. She fell to the ground and bounced with the force, screaming with pain. Phages approached her, but Theia was faster. With a burst of energy she shot forward and landed between her fallen friend and the monsters, her staff held defensively. The phages stopped, weary of the powers of a fully-capable senshi._

_ "Mother," Okeanos whimpered, coughing up blood as she pulled herself to her feet. She held her arm with one gloved hand, the white soon turning a bright shade of red. Her wounds must have reopened in the fall. Theia stuck her staff in the ground, summoning a protective shield to guard their backs, and she joined Okeanos, staring defiantly up at the skeletal face._

_ "Have you come to surrender, foolish senshi?" his voice boomed, the smell of rot and decay assaulting their senses. Theia felt nauseous, but stood tall and strong._

_ "Never!" They yelled in unison._

_ The menacing smile changed into one of sick glee and Theia feared the worst – he seemed happiest right before he summoned some insane plague of beasts. She braced herself, but nothing happened. No release of energy of any kind came from the giant. But why, then? Why was he – _

_ "STOP IT!" Okeanos screamed, letting go of her injured arm to reach fruitlessly towards the beast. "LEAVE HER ALONE! STOP IT!" her shrieks echoed in the near silence of the field, tears streaming freely down her face. Theia looked up in horror to see that the Queen was grimacing, her arms squeezed tightly against her sides and her legs, extending past the hold of the monster's great hand, were pressed together unnaturally. Her bones? He was crushing her bones? _

No, she didn't want to see this again. She wanted to wake up.

_ The queen tried to keep her composure, to keep her pain unknown, but nothing escaped the notice of her daughter, "STOP IT NOW!" she yelled, her voice breaking into a screech, "OKEANOS RAGING WATERS!" Water surged from her hand towards Necroma and hit him squarely on the leg. He collapsed onto one knee and his face turned from a twisted smile to an insane look of rage. _

_ It was then that the queen screamed, as his grip intensified, crushing her past her limits. Blood spilled from her eyes, her nose, her mouth, and still she screamed horrifically. Theia turned, grabbing her staff and pointing it at the creature's wrist. "THEIA SHINING DUST!" she yelled, and a stream of glittering particles shot out of her weapon, each grain cutting deep into the creature's arm and exploding. His rotting flesh flew away from his wrist as it cut through muscles and tendons, but it did nothing to his grip. If anything, her screams peaked at an ear-shattering decibel, Okeanos's sobs and shrieks almost at the same level as she tried to summon forth another attack._

_ But it was too late._

_ The Queen's screams stopped and Necroma dropped her. "Reconsider, senshi, or you will end up the same," he bellowed, then he and his army disappeared in a foul-smelling cloud of gas._

_ Okeanos and Theia rushed forward to meet the pitiful form of the queen, but Theia already knew it was too late. Okeanos beat her there, and she fell beside her mother's head, reaching forward to touch her but not knowing where she could without causing more pain. Theia stood back, wanting to be there for her friend but not wanting to intrude on this, their last moments together. Theia started to cry, leaning on her staff for support._

_ "Mother," Okeanos sobbed, her purple eyes overflowing with tears, "Mother, I'm sorry. We didn't get here in time," she sobbed, unable to continue._

_ "E…os…" the queen breathed heavily, her words thick with blood and masked pain, "did… did you…"_

_ "Yes, mother, we found it," Okeanos cried._

_ The queen sighed, some of the anxiety fading from her face, along with the pain. This was it. Okeanos seemed to realize this as well, as her sobs became even more frenzied. "S… save Oke…anos…"_

_ "We will, mother. We will." Okeanos cried harder, "I love you."_

_ "I love you… too… my –" she coughed, blood pouring from her mouth, but her eyes found her daughter at last, their pained blue orbs barely focusing as she slipped away, "Eos."_

_ She screamed out, reaching again for her mother's body, her cries echoing the pain of her people. Her good arm cupped her mother's cheek as she looked desperate into the woman's eyes as if willing the soul to return. Theia couldn't look away, her closest friend's mourning wails cutting through her heart. Slowly, her legs like lead, Theia approached the pair. She knelt down beside them and put her arm around the survivor as she gently closed their Queen's eyes. Sailor Okeanos's sobs were coming so quickly that she was having trouble breathing; Theia gently pulled her away, tearing her frenzied gaze from the poor woman's broken, bleeding corpse and hugging her close. Eos cried into her collar, her fist curling desperately into the material below Theia's wings._

"Serenity?" a voice asked timidly.

She opened her eyes and found herself to be far, far away from that place, that time. Okeanos was gone, Eos with it. She looked through blurry eyes for the girl calling her name and saw Luna standing beside her bed. She blinked and tears, hot and heavy, roll down the side of her face. The girl's cat-like face collapsed in compassion and she fell onto the bed beside her, taking her hand and pulling her close. Serenity lay there in Luna's cool embrace for a long moment, her head still dislodging itself from that scene, fighting to bring herself away from the memory of Eos. She sat up, pushing the thoughts from her mind and returning Luna's hug.

"Thank you, Luna," she said into the girl's long purple hair, "I'm okay now, thank you."

She pulled back, staring at her with those bright blue eyes, "No you're not." Serenity nodded her head in an attempt to dismiss the compassionate woman's doubts, but she just shook her head in the negative, "If you were okay, you wouldn't be crying now." She reached up and brushed her cheek, her finger wet when she pulled away.

So she was still crying. She took a deep breath, willing the tears to stop, laughing at her inability to control her own body. Luna hugged her again; Serenity hugged her back. They stayed that way for a time, Serenity taking in all of the comfort that Luna was only too willing to give. A good while later, Luna pulled back with a tentative smile, "I came in to see if you wanted some dinner. Artemis left a little while ago, so it would be just the two of us. Well, the three of us," she amended with a small shrug.

Serenity nodded, her stomach twanging with hunger. She wondered if there was any real way to go back to depending solely on the crystal for energy after this – her daughter, it seemed, had liked the experience of sharing real meals. She got to her feet, choosing not to put her heels on again, and followed Luna to her bright and cozy kitchen, where they talked of lighter things while Luna started throwing together a hearty meal. She gave Serenity a cup of hot chocolate to start, smiling. "For her sweet tooth," she explained.

They had fish for dinner – Serenity smiled as Luna gave her a portion that looked like a child's cutout of a fish – with mashed sweet potatoes and asparagus for a heaping portion of vitamins. For dessert they chatted over cold fruit with a dollop of sweet cream, Serenity learning even more about the planet Mau. Daily life here seemed similar to that on her own world, but they had very festive celebrations and a rich cultural history all based on, predictably, cats. They kept the traditions of their elders as they moved forward towards the future, keeping such things as Rites of Passage and their coming-of-age ceremony, where young Mauans had to perform three tasks set forth by their elders during their fourteenth year. Some of the tasks had evolved with the age, but for young males there remained at least one quest that revolved around hunting in the plains. Sometimes they completed the task in groups, sometimes alone. These quests often tested a young Mauan's bravery, intelligence and strength, but the degree of each varied with the young person at hand. A lot of required them to be in their transformed state to complete.

"What were your tests?" Serenity asked as they sat curled up facing each other in Luna's living room.

"I was sent to the next town over and charged with dissolving an illegal trade that was going on," Luna replied, straight-faced.

"At _fourteen?_" Serenity was shocked.

Luna smiled, "It was more tactical than anything, and I was passing in a group. Besides, when did you awaken as a senshi?"

Serenity thought back, "I think I always was one."

"But your first major battle happened when you were…?"

"Twelve, I suppose… But I have powers to aide me," Serenity qualified, "You were just a bunch of teenagers!"

"We can take care of ourselves," Luna said with a wink, "and the elders occasionally keep an eye on us with missions like that."

"Does _every_ Mauan get charged with doing that kind of quest?"

"Well, not really," Luna said, looking modest, "but I was in an advanced group, so instead of being charged with hunting one of the great beasts, they thought they'd test our intelligence and teamwork. A lot of those in my class currently work in top agencies, even though we're not yet twenty."

"Do you work in a 'top agency'?" Serenity asked, not having considered before that Luna had a day-job.

"Of sorts," Luna replied, "I'm on a city council defensive planning committee."

"That's really impressive," Serenity complimented.

Luna smiled, "thank you."

"What about your other tests?"

Luna shrugged, "those weren't nearly as hard; I completed them during the other mission. I had to steal an object and leave no trace of it – that was done _several_ times. When we were sent over they didn't give us anything but the clothes on our backs. We had to find our own hideout and find a way to support ourselves, which started off with a little bit of food-nicking," Luna smiled largely, "Don't look so appalled! It's commonplace around here – whenever things go missing it's just assumed that a fourteenth-year has been through. As for larger objects, well, some others coming-of-age are charged with watching out and preventing theft by older people, so things usually work out just fine."

Mau… was strange. But Serenity liked it. "What if the kid is unsuccessful? For example, if they got caught?"

"They just had to try again. If they didn't successfully complete their tasks by the Coming-of-Age festival, they had to try again the next year."

They continued this discussion for quite some time, until both Serenity and Luna were yawning.

"We should probably head to bed," Luna announced at last, "your meeting with the King and Sailor Mau is before noontime tomorrow."

As Serenity returned to the guest room, Luna popped into another room, but joined the silver-haired girl minutes later with a pile of clothing and blankets. "Would you mind too much if I slept in here with you?"

Serenity was touched – though she had phrased it so it sounded like Serenity would be doing her a favor by letting her sleep in here, she knew that Luna was only offering because of what happened earlier. She smiled and nodded, "I wouldn't mind at all."

Luna had also brought Serenity some loose pajamas to replace her formalwear - "I'll wash that for you tomorrow morning," Luna offered about the dress through the door as Serenity changed. Luna set up her make-shift bed as Serenity let down her long hair, scratching her head thoroughly to dispel the tight feeling the hairstyle left behind. Though they started out with Serenity in the middle of the queen-sized bed and Luna on the floor, by the time they fell asleep Luna had crawled up onto the bed with Serenity and the two fell asleep facing each other.

This time, her sleep was left undisturbed.


	5. Chapter 5

Serenity awoke alone and disoriented, staring over a blue-sheeted pillow at a pink-hued wall. It had been so long since she had slept, however, that it took very little time to realize where she was and what she was doing there. A giggle drifted down the hallway, followed by the echo of a deeper voice – Luna and Artemis, maybe? She sat up, running a hand through her knotted hair, and maneuvered her legs over the side of the bed. Looking around she noticed her dress missing; her friend must have taken it to wash. There would be no helping it then – she would have to greet them in the loose, frilly pajamas.

As she walked from the guest room to the kitchen she parted her hair in an attempt to better sort it, but had given up on the task mid-way through the living room as her silver hair was proving to be a too difficult to deal with sans tools. The house was bright with sunlight, the early morning caressing the tidy little house and most of the furniture within. Serenity found the kitchen to be in much the same state – overfilled with sunlight and warmth. Luna and Artemis were smiling together, Artemis holding Luna's hand in what appeared to be a pancake-flipping lesson. She smiled, too; they were such a sweet couple.

"And now you just jerk your wrist upward and—" Artemis pulled, Luna gasped, and a perfect pancake flipped high over their heads… to land right on Artemis. "… I blame you," the white-haired man stated as the round pancake slid onto his shoulder.

Luna laughed heartily, "at least it was completely cooked!"

"You're right – instead of having to bathe again, I'll just smell of deliciousness all day," Artemis leaned over and nuzzled his head against Luna's, "Go ahead, try and resist me~"

Luna, still laughing, playfully pushed his head away from her with one hand and scruffled his hair, "as if I had any chance to begin with!"

Artemis faced her and smiled, pushing against her palm. His green eyes flashed over to Serenity, but instead of disengaging or acting uncomfortable, still grinning he greeted her, "Good morning, Serenity! I hope you slept well."

"I did," Serenity replied, smiling back at him, "thank you."

Luna turned and winked at her, "We're making breakfast! I hope you like eggs and pancakes! Well," she paused and plucked the breakfast treat off of Artemis's shoulder, "not this one. This one we'll give to him."

Artemis smiled and gathered materials to set the table while Luna finished cooking. Serenity helped him as much as possible getting drinks out of the fridge and setting them out before being told to sit down.

"Your hair is almost as bad as Luna's," Artemis remarked, picking up one section of strands and teasing it – "Lucky for you, we have the same hair-type. It won't be nearly as tangled as poor Luna's wavy mess."

Luna turned and saucily stuck her tongue out at him.

"Love you, too," he replied with a grin, still looking at the silver mess of tangles, "but with this length… well, it shouldn't take too long to organize. I'll run home and grab my conditioner for you after breakfast," Artemis decided, taking a seat beside her at the circular kitchenette table as Luna bustled over with a heaping stack of eggs on one plate, pancakes on the other.

"Thanks," Serenity replied, "I usually keep it up when I sleep and just tie the pigtails together to prevent tangling like this, but I hadn't taken them down in so long…" she pulled a short-stack of pancakes her way, piling them with strawberries and syrup.

Luna watched her out of the corner of her eyes, "Save room for some eggs, Ms. Sweet-tooth. She might like the pancakes, but you need the protein."

Artemis laughed and Serenity smiled again, pushing the cakes over and obediently laying claim to two sunny-side-up eggs. She hadn't had to think about nutrition in quite some time and really appreciated Luna's advice and good-natured directions.

After breakfast, Luna showed Serenity to her bathroom, taking out fresh purple towels and walking her through the bathing supplies as Artemis ran out to grab his special conditioner.

"Your dress should be back by the time you finish," Artemis said breathlessly, handing her a good-sized bottle of creamy-colored liquid, "I popped into the cleaners and they were already drying it."

"Thank you both," Serenity said with a smile, her heart swelling with appreciation.

They just smiled back, Luna's sweet and Artemis's a goofy grin.

Just as he had suggested, her dress had returned and was waiting for her when she had dried off. It was some work, getting it on over her tummy, made almost twice as hard with her hair everywhere, but the end effect looked just fine. She readjusted the bow a few times and, taking the crystal off of the nightstand, exited to the living room, where both Luna and Artemis waited. Each had a brush in their hands, Luna looking helpful while Artemis tried to look his most fiendish. She laughed, took up a brush, and they all set to work on her floor-length locks. The conditioner he had given her seemed to let the strands slide right away from each other, even as her hair dried, and the chore was finished relatively quickly. She was finishing her last bun when Artemis glanced outside at the sundial and told them that they should get moving.

They walked only as far as town, then hailed a carriage and set off towards the High Castle of Mau. As they moved further and further into the town Serenity couldn't help but inquire about the location of the castle – why was this town the capital? It wasn't particularly large or imposing, not arranged for defense, either. The Mauans took turns talking about a rich spiritual history in the area and a network of tribal communities, most of which, though she tried her hardest, went over Serenity's head. There were just too many foreign words, expressions and cultural differences for her to catch on to without having to question every concept that they mentioned, so she just tried to take note of everything and piece it all together later.

They arrived at the castle – a tall, stone-crafted building – and Artemis went ahead of them to find his brother, meeting them in the entrance hall with him. The resemblance between the simblings was easy to spot – same hair color, though different lengths, same eye color, but Artemis was the taller of the two. The brother went straight over to talk to the guards, then returned to say that they would be called in shortly.

He was right. Serenity didn't have to stand for long, wondering what she had to say. She was beckoned forward and led into the reception chamber, Artemis and Luna following several steps behind her.

"Sailor Theia!" bellowed the herald, "Luna Astareal and Artemis Kerunae!"

Serenity walked down the long corridor towards the thrones. The chamber was empty but for the three of them, the King, his Queen, the planet's senshi and a handful of guards placed at intervals around the room. A private audience was best, Serenity decided, it would be what she would have done were she to be visited by a stranger. When she came within 20 feet, she paused. She should kneel, but it would be extremely difficult to get back up again. So, instead, she placed her hand on her heart and dipped her head, waiting for an acknowledgement before righting herself.

"You may rise," the King said in a booming voice. She did so, taking in all three of them. The King could only be described as lion-esque, with broad shoulders, deep brown hair and golden-hued eyes and skin, emanating a masculine strength and power that captured attention and kept it. His queen was a good match physically, her gaze confident and proud.

Sailor Mau, standing floor-level on the king's left, watched her with intent green eyes. Like herself, Mau embodied the ancient special characteristics of their planet's race – in her transformed state she possessed tabby-striped grey cat-ears and an equally striped tail, the tip of which was twitching with attention. Her eyes were almond-shaped, her pupil slitted like a cat's, and her short slate-grey hair was highlighted with faded blonde and fell to her shoulders. Her fuku was a very light shade of blue, her sleeveless top attached to a short pair of shorts rather than a skirt. She had no bow, just an unattached collar. Her choker had a silver bell in the center, as did the small gloves on her hands. Her legs were primarily covered with slate-gray stockings, calf-high light blue boots finishing off her uniform.

"Who are you, visitor?" the King asked, placing emphasis on the last word to convey its true meaning. Visitor as in from outside, not a part of them. He might not have meant to sound harsh, but he did, but she expected nothing less from a ruler intent on his people's protection.

"I am Serenity," she answered simply, gripping the sailor crystal in her right hand for support.

"They say you are a senshi," Mau prompted, folding her arms and shifting her weight to her right leg. "Is it true?"

"It is," Serenity confirmed and transformed, sensing the faintly-concealed wish for confirmation. "Theia Star Power, Make-up," she said in a quiet, conversational tone, and closed her eyes as heat spread from her hand and across her body. She opened her eyes again when her transformation was complete, watching the reaction of the rulers of Mau. "I am Sailor Theia, guarded by the star Theia."

"Sailor Theia, why have you come to us?" the king asked, looking confused, "Senshi are to guard their planets – why are you traveling?"

"Especially in your state," the queen added, concern in her voice.

Serenity steeled her heart, not wishing to convey the emotions so rampant within. "I am looking for a new planet to call home," she simply stated; though she had tried, her voice broke on the final word, visions of Okeanos breaking through to invade her thoughts. She took a deep breath, grasping the staff that held her crystal, their hope for a better future.

Mau looked at her darkly, "And why have you chosen to leave your own world, winged-senshi?"

"It was destroyed."

The king and queen started, their shocked reaction mirrored by the guards lining the wall and, she sensed, her newfound friends behind her. Sailor Mau's expression quickly changed from shock and compassion to one of anger, "And you let this happen? You let your people die, to escape and save yourself? You let that evil escape to continue spreading its hatred across the galaxy?" She stepped forward angrily, her tail puffing out behind her.

"No," Theia replied calmly, her heart breaking, "I defeated the evil one, but it was too late. He had killed our Queen and the senshi of our planet, his armies had caused mass genocide the world over, burning and killing whatever they came across. Though I defeated Necroma, the power unleashed in our final battled razed the entire planet, leaving a sphere of dead rock in its wake." Theia squeezed her eyes shut, her head powed forward. "I failed to protect Okeanos, but I did not let that evil spread further."

The hall was silent.

"Sailor Theia, why have you come to Mau?" the Queen spoke.

"I have come to rest and recover my strength," she replied, facing them once again. "It should only take a few days, if you allow me to stay for that long."

The rulers looked to each other, having a conversation with their eyes. Sailor Mau watched her, but her state of mind was unclear. "Sailor Theia," the queen addressed, both she and her lion-like King watching her with an intent gaze, "You may stay for one week, but please depart after that."

Theia nodded and powered down, again catching the crystal as it fell. Every eye in the room followed its descent into her palm in a cat-like way. Serenity smiled within, but kept her outward expression serious.

"My King and Queen," Luna strode up to stand beside her and knelt, "Sailor Mau."

"Luna Astareal," Sailor Mau acknowledged, and Luna stood.

"I request permission for Lady Serenity to stay with me, as she has nowhere else to go."

The king glanced to his queen, who shrugged her shoulders imperceptibly. Returning his gaze to Luna, looking regal once again, he accepted her request. "Let it be so. Report back to us any problems that occur."

"Sailor Theia," Sailor Mau addressed, "Return here when it is time for you to leave. You may use my tower to make your ascent."

Serenity bowed her head in thanks and turned with Luna to leave. They had one week – that should be more than enough time for the crystal to recover; perhaps she could gain information on local star systems while she was here, to figure out if there were any suitable systems in the area. Her zig-zag pattern was covering a lot of ground, but taking a lot of time; if only she knew that such a system existed…


	6. Chapter 6

As the carriage rumbled through town, Artemis took up the role of tour guide and indicated various points of interest along their route. Luna stayed quiet at first, glancing her way every now and again with her bright blue eyes, probably curious about what she had told the royals about her planet but too polite to ask. Serenity didn't care to elaborate, so she just enjoyed Artemis's pomp and circumstance, listening as he described a memorial as they passed it, a delicious restaurant known for its river-fresh fish, a museum of Mau artifacts –

"Do you think we could go there?" Serenity interrupted, looking out her window at the impressive building of carved cat-like statues.

"The museum?" Artemis paused, checking out the window again as if to make sure that he wasn't making a mistake. As he followed her pointing finger he looked back at her skeptically, "you sure you want to go there?"

Luna suddenly smiled, crowing the window with the two of them. "That place? I don't know… the assistant curator is said to be a bit of a dopey guy…"

"Hey!" Artemis turned and tapped the top of her head disapprovingly.

Serenity laughed, "You know the assistant curator, then?"

"I _am_ the assistant curator," Artemis corrected.

"Wow," Serenity murmured appreciatively, looking from her tall friend to the impressive building.

"Let's go!" Luna said, tapping on the front of the carriage to signal a stop, "You can give us the personal tour, Artemis!"

Artemis groaned, but was smiling as he opened the carriage and offered his hand to assist the two ladies.

The rest of the morning and much of the afternoon was spent exploring the maze of exhibits depicting ancient Mauan life, from the time of tribes that worshipped the stars and fought to the death in trials of bravery, to the time of early 'civilization'. Serenity was fascinated by the rites of passage for the various stages of life, the stories of battle and daily living found etched in ancient stones, the different methods of burial – the entire building was filled with spectacular exhibits that captured her imagination completely. It was marvelous.

Simple questions asked of Artemis about one object or another led into great tales about that facet of ancient life and the story of the artifact's recovery; the farther from the city, the more wild and adventurous the story became. "There are still Mau out there, living the ancient life, deep in the forests of the eastern continent," Artemis mentioned at one point as they examined a mural of a panther. "As our ancestors developed, or cat forms evolved as well, from the ancient giant cats of the plains to… well…"

"Let's just say we've adapted to smaller living spaces," Luna finished with a big smile. Throughout all of Artemis's talks, Serenity caught a look of mingled interest, admiration and pride on her friends' face.

Hours passed in the halls of the museum. They caught a quick sandwich lunch between wings, and then returned to the exploration at Serenity's insistence. "I'm not so delicate!" she teased, pulling both of them along when they protested for her health.

It was getting close to dinnertime when they finally called it a day and summoned another carriage. On the way back to Luna's, Serenity was spent. She was tired, hungry, and incredibly satisfied with the day, all uncomfortable feelings from the morning's meetings having melted away in the company of Luna and Artemis. Once back in their comfortable quarters, Luna sat Serenity down in the kitchen and told her not to lift a finger, tsk-tsking about spending too much time on her feet that day. The three of them had a cozy dinner, then retired to the sitting room.

"So, Artemis," Serenity inquired as they all settled in, "how did you get to be the assistant curator of such a fabulous museum? I don't think I've seen anything like it, and for someone so young… you must have an impressive background…" she prompted, leaning back into the corner of the couch to look at him fully.

"Well… I'm just lucky, I guess," he said, smiling uncomfortably at the attention.

"Oh, please," Luna said, lightly elbowing him from her seat beside him, "you're more than lucky."

"The fact that you're here proves that, now doesn't it?" he teased, nuzzling his head against hers playfully.

"Oh, go on," Luna said dismissively, but she couldn't help the smile on her face. "Artemis has a gift."

"A gift?" Serenity repeated, remembering one of the murals depicting a one cat among many, shining under the light of the stars.

"Yeah... well, it's more of a knack, really," Artemis said, trying to talk it down. She waited expectantly for him to go on, "I can find things," he elaborated. "Things, people – if I concentrate hard enough, I can almost _feel_ it. I follow the feeling and find what I'm looking for."

"Ah, so some of those stories of discovery were first-hand, I take it?" Serenity guessed.

"Well, yes," he smiled, running a hand through his hair modestly. "They had a hunch about it when I was young, as I was always finding misplaced objects for my inner family. So, for my rite-of-passage test I was sent with a local archaeologist to the wildlands. It was fun," he smiled, "the strangest sensation, really. We were just walking past this over-grown patch of jungle and I just _felt_ like I needed to dig. The master stopped, and we spent some time sifting through the site and found a burial ground. I think I discovered five or six sites that year…" he thought, his green eyes pointed to the ceiling as he searched for the memory. Eventually he shrugged, "Can't remember exactly. When I came back I passed the rite with flying colors and apprenticed myself to another dig team for a few years, but when I turned twenty I just _felt_ like I should come back." He turned with a goofy expression and hugged Luna exaggeratedly, "And then I found my Luna!"

She looked out at Serenity from with the folds of his arms, her eyes attempting to convey a loss of patience even while her cheeks betrayed a smile was struggling to surface. Serenity was beaming herself; the two were simply adorable together.

At her request, Artemis spent the next hour or so retelling other adventures he had in 'the wildlands,' hunting down artifacts and meeting the natives to the area. The tales were rather enthralling, filled with adventure, danger, and success – he was a very good storyteller. His inflection and pauses were perfect, and he actually stood to act out the mannerisms of the other cultures that he came across. When he finished, ending with a quick recount of when he was asked to take on the position of assistant curator, he sat back down beside Luna and held her hand.

"That's about it, my whole story," he said, smiling. "Here I am, just over 23, assistant curator of the Ancient Ruins museum and engaged to marry the girl of my dreams."

"It sounds like a wonderful life," Serenity commented honestly and upliftingly.

"I think it is," he replied, "maybe, sometime you could tell us about your planet."

Her heart dropped a few pegs and part of her wondered if that had been his intent the entire time – tell her a story so she would tell him. The thought left quickly, however, looking into his eyes; he was upfront and honest, he hadn't tried to manipulate her. He was honestly, openly curious, probably about her own culture. Hesitantly she smiled, "Maybe," she agreed with a nod. It might be good to talk to them of Okeanos… its rolling hills and spires of crystal. While she didn't know a lot about her ancestors, she could tell them about the life that was there, the people who lived there and what their lives were like… before she knew it she was gripping at her dress, a fat tear landing near the top of her stomach.

"Oh, Serenity," Luna rushed over, falling to her knees beside the couch to take one of Serenity's hands in her own. "We're sorry, we didn't mean to upset you."

Artemis stood, too, reaching towards her but looking lost as to what he could do. "I – I'm sorry, Serenity, I didn't mean – I just wondered about – I'll go make you some hot chocolate." He left the room quickly.

She felt even worse, causing him such discomfort. "It's me, I'm sorry," she apologized, using her free hand to wipe away the tears on her face. Showing a brave smile, she looked into Luna's eyes, "It's not your fault – it's neither of your faults. I just haven't spoken about it since it happened, and everything's still so fresh… and yet it's fading."

Luna nodded, whether in sympathy or understanding Serenity couldn't tell, but even just admitting that she hadn't quite faced the loss yet released some of the pressure.

Artemis reentered hesitantly, raising a steaming cup of something chocolatey-smelling (she found her nose worked in over-time nowadays) as if in a peace offering. "Hot water was already on," he explained.

Serenity smiled, "I'm sorry Artemis," she said, accepting the warm cup, "I didn't mean to break down on you."

"She's still getting over it," Luna supplied helpfully, looking up at her betrothed.

He nodded and sat back down, "I'm sorry I asked – it's just… anthropology is so interesting."

"Well," Serenity said, taking a sip of the warm chocolate to gain a little more confidence in the matter, "I didn't really study much of our ancient history, I'm afraid, but I can tell you a little bit about my home as I knew it."

Artemis waved his hand, "No, you don't have to tell me now –"

"I think I'd like to," Serenity said, wondering herself why. Luna stayed where she was, still holding her hand supportively, but Artemis leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Our planet was ruled under one ruler, a Queen whom everyone adored," she said with a smile, remembering Eos's mother's frequent trips into the city to speak with people on their level, to learn of their personal problems so that she could better help alleviate their stress and worry. "The world came under one rule many, many years ago in the time of the former senshi, and since then we had been developing all together, our cities constructed using the most recent technology." Serenity nodded behind her, "Life was simple, but not without the occasional hardship." She paused, "I'm not really sure what else to say…"

"What was the name of your planet, again?" Artemis asked innocently.

"Okeanos," she replied, "shone upon by the star Theia."

He nodded. "And, if you wouldn't find this question too forward, your wings – the wings that appear when you transform – are they… did they…" he was struggling with the question.

"I think," Luna said, looking from Artemis back to Serenity, "He's wondering about whether or not all of your people possessed them. Sailor Mau always has her ears and tail, even though we only have them when we're in our cat forms; is it the same with your people?"

"Uh… yes and no," Serenity responded, trying to think of the best way to describe it. "To my knowledge it is similar in that only the Queen and we senshi possessed functional wings, but other citizens were born with wings that didn't work or no wings at all. The popular myth of our creation stated that we used to be fairies – tiny people with large wings – but the gods and goddesses wished us to become something more, so we grew and grew until our wings became so small in comparison that they fell off, and haven't been recurring ever since. It was only those chosen by the planet that had full-sized wings, to remind us of whom we were and where we came from." She explained, hoping she made sense. "There were actually several 'holy forests' that were said to be the dwelling places of our ancestors, and every year we held a celebration there or in our homes to honor the goddess who made the transformation."

Artemis's head cocked to the side as if considering, or else attempting to take it all in. Luna smiled up at her, "We, too, had stories of 'fairies'! We called them the Fae and they often tricked our ancestors into doing stupid things. We still use a few in our tales of morality with our young ones."

Serenity smiled, "Should I let my wings out then, and shall we visit the homes of naughty children?"

They all laughed, "You'd have to come up with some sort of riddle to make it convincing!" Artemis joked, "Something really good. I'll be of no hope, I'm afraid. If I were to be challenged by the Fae I think I would just give up and be turned into a toad."

They spent the rest of the night making up riddles for each other. Luna was excellent, but, as he had hinted, Artemis was no riddle-master. Serenity thought she did okay, but there were several that she had to let slip by; Luna was declared Queen shortly before they decided to retire for the night. Artemis bid them goodbye, saying that he would return the next afternoon when he took care of some business with the museum.

When Serenity changed into her pajamas she found Luna waiting for her in the guest bedroom with some ribbons – "for your hair," she explained. They tied up her long 'tails' securely and Serenity climbed into bed. Luna, deciding to stay in with her for another night, shut out the lights and crawled into her sleeping bag.

As sleep overcame her, two things in her mind clicked together perfectly – the Mau have been studying stars for ages upon ages, so they probably had a good record of the local systems. She should check them tomorrow to see if any certain system looked promising… or _felt_ promising… it was then that it hit her – Artemis! Perhaps Artemis could _find_ the system she was looking for! Though excited by the prospect, the day caught up with the weary senshi and she fell asleep immediately.


	7. Chapter 7

Serenity awoke alone yet again, but as she shakily stood, taking hold of her crystal, she found that Luna had not left her completely alone, hearing a door close somewhere in the hallway. She went to the closet and found, beside her own gown, a looser, frillier dress in light blue. Smiling, she undressed and slid the new gown over her head, tugging it lightly to get past her stomach, and turned to see her reflection in the mirror. Her hair looked more silver-gray than silver-purple in comparison, but it was a nice touch. The dress was sleeveless, its multiple layers made of lace pulled down out with each long frill to create a streamlined look – from the front she looked completely normal, at this stage in the pregnancy it was mostly that way in whatever she wore. She turned to the side and there was the happy surprise: there didn't appear to be a baby bump, just a nice, empire wasted dress. The entire dress ended midway down her thigh. She smiled at her reflection; it was cute. Taking a moment to run her hands through her bangs and strip the ribbons from her hair, she stepped barefoot into the hallway and almost ran into Luna.

"Oh! Goodmorn—it fits! It's so cute!" Luna exclaimed, taking Serenity's hands and holding them up to better see the dress. She let go of one arm and twisted the other, resulting in Serenity doing a clumsy pirouette. "I thought that color might look good on you!" She said with a smile, releasing her.

Serenity smiled, "Yes, it's lovely! Thank you for letting me borrow it."

Luna waved her hand, "no problem, no problem. Hey! I made breakfast again!" Luna grabbed her hand and half-pulled her into the kitchen, chatting about a dream she had had the night before wherein she chased a huge bird and found she could fly. Serenity laughed and returned with a dream she had had years ago about turning into a bird. They continued talking about dreams throughout breakfast, eventually translating into a talk about the meaning of dreams, or whether they had any meaning at all.

After a cup of tea, breakfast finished long ago, Luna suddenly asked "Could you put my hair up, like yours?"

"Pardon?" Serenity asked, confused by the sudden change in topics.

"It's a bit of a weird request, I know, but I love your hairstyle and I just wanted to see what it looked like…" Luna trailed off.

She hadn't heard that request in _years_. She and Eos used to play with each other's hair when they were younger, but upon finding a style that suited, they generally kept to what worked best for them. Occasionally she had seen children running around in town with variations of her look when they were playing senshi, but none had really ever asked her for lessons on her spherical buns.

Smiling, Serenity agreed. They sat together in the living room, armed with brush, comb, elastic bands and pins, and Serenity got to work. Luna's hair was _thick_ – Serenity had thought that the waviness might be an issue, but it was only half the battle. When finally she had one section gathered into a high pigtail, twisted and maneuvered the hair to get a bun, she had barely pinned it in place when the hair won the battle and untwisted itself, shooting hairpins everywhere. She laughed and tried again. … and then one more time before she submitted, "I don't think we can get your hair up just like mine, but I can try a variation if you'd like." Luna agreed, and Serenity set back to work, releasing all but a third of the hair from either side of her head. These were much easier to manipulate…

Nearly half an hour later, Serenity proclaimed she was done.

Luna admired her handiwork in the nearest mirror, "It's… it's adorable! It's like you took my regular, old, boring style and completely uplifted it!" She grinned back at Serenity, "How many of buns are there?"

"Only two on each side," she replied, happy that her friend was so impressed with her work. "I can teach you how to do them on your own later, if you would like."

"I would _love_ that!" She said, looking back at herself and posing playfully. "I hope Artemis likes them as much as I do, because I think I'm going to stick with this style _forever!_"

Artemis.

The brainwave from last night came crashing forward and Serenity dashed up to Luna and took her hand, "I almost forgot, but now I remember completely – do you think Artemis could find something for me?"

Luna looked at her quizzically, "Like what? You haven't lost your crystal ball, have you?"

Her crystal ball? … the sailor crystal. Serenity laughed, tapping at one of the deep pockets of the dress, "Nah, I have it right here. Is he good at locating things using maps as the medium?" she elaborated, "like… a star chart?"

Luna's expression changed almost immediately from quizzical to excited, "You mean you want him to help you find where to go!"

Serenity nodded, smiling.

"He might be able to do that! We should go ask him!" Luna declared, moving to the doorway to slip on her shoes. Serenity went back to the bedroom to find her high heels, grimacing as she slipped back into them. Pregnancy and heels, not a good mix. She returned to the living room to find the door open, Luna already outside.

"I'll be right back!" Luna called as she dashed off down the street, "I'm going to get a carriage!"

Serenity smiled, watching Luna's retreating form bounce away up the street. She didn't know if it were fate or luck that had her passing so close to this particular planet when she needed to stop, but she was extremely happy that her daughter had kicked and knocked her off course to land here, in Luna's garden. Even if she were leaving in five days, she felt like Luna and Artemis would be people she would remember for the rest of her life.

Luna returned relatively quickly and held the door open for Serenity. As soon as they were in the carriage took off. "He should still be at the museum," Luna muttered, looking out the window. "The library isn't too far from there, so we could just hop on over. There're bound to be books filled with star charts there." She laughed, looking back at Serenity, "and if charts don't work, we might just picnic outside tonight and wait for them to appear."

If this worked, she could have more time to get settled, more time to awaken her daughter's protectors. She could get everything ready and perfect for Hyperion's daughter's arrival. She smiled fondly, trying to imagine what she would look like…

"Ah! We're here!" Luna exclaimed, jumping from the carriage before it had come to a full stop.

"Luna!" Serenity called after her, "Be careful! Please!"

"You seem to have forgotten the balance and agility of we Mauans," Luna teased, poking her head back through the door. "C'mon!"

They entered the museum, Luna leading them straight to an information desk, back into the inner offices, past a few doors until they stopped right outside of one with voices emanating from within. "Rats," Luna said with a snap, "he's in a meeting with his boss." She looked around, spotted a couple of chairs and dragged them over. The two sat down and waited. Every few minutes Luna would stand, walk over to the door and peer through the tiny window, only to sit back down with a sigh. "They're looking at maps of some sort."

Serenity laughed, "Well he did say he had work to do."

Three quarters of an hour had passed, Serenity and Luna making small talk as they waited. When, at last, a tall Mau with short-cropped brown hair exited, Luna practically bounced from her seat into Artemis's office. The brown-haired man jumped back in alarm, looking from the door to Serenity, who just smiled awkwardly at him until he turned and left.

After a quick conversation within the room, her two friends emerged, Luna practically dragging Artemis out, Artemis watching her amusedly, dragging his feet to make her work harder. "C'mon, you dead-weight!" Luna growled, heaving against his opposition.

"Oh, hello Serenity," Artemis greeted cheerfully, waving at her as Luna hauled him, step-by-step, past. "I love what you've done with Luna's hair."

Serenity stood, walking easily beside him, "I thought it suited her, too," she replied.

"Less talking, more walking!"

Artemis laughed, finally walking with Luna. As the three of them left the office region and made for the exit, he asked, "now, where is it that we're going?"

"Artemis, I was wondering if you could use your gift to locate things on a map," Serenity posed as they walked back up the path to the street.

"Sometimes," he admitted, thinking it over. "I'll occasionally get a tingle when there's a really good find."

Serenity smiled as Luna turned down the sidewalk, "Would you be willing to help me find a star system?"

Artemis looked over at him, comprehension dawning on his face, "You want me to help you find a new home!"

"When you put it like that you sound like you're going to take her house-shopping," Luna teased, still walking quickly but keeping up with the conversation behind her.

"Isn't that pretty much what we're doing?" Artemis pointed out. "We heading to the library, then?"

"Yep, not much longer now, either." Luna pointed at another large-looking building up ahead.

When they entered it was like a giant tactical meeting; Luna found the Astronomy section straightaway as Artemis claimed a table. With Serenity guarding their find, he went over and hauled out the huge tombs that Luna chose from the stacks and dropped them unceremoniously onto the heavy-looking table. At once Serenity hauled open the first, turning to images of the evening sky during spring – the season the planet was currently in.

"So, how does this work, exactly?" Serenity asked, the image before her was huge and hand-drawn, taking up almost two by two-and-a-half feet, a white expanse of paper dotted with pinpricks of dark ink of various colors, mostly black.

"Well, I guess we start by asking what you're looking for," Artemis said, standing beside her and surveying the map. "Try to be specific, and we'll see if I get anything." Luna set herself up on the other side of Serenity, peering over her shoulder at the array of mapped stars.

"I need a star system that has one planet that supports life, and several that do not."

"Dead planets?" Artemis verified.

Serenity nodded.

"Okay." He slowly started looking over the map, going once-over with his eyes, then again at a slower pace, until he was going star by star, looking at them and yet, somehow, _through_ them. Serenity was looking, too. Had she seen these stars already? No – she had landed in the afternoon; the direction she came from would be their winter sky.

She felt Luna move and turned to see her hauling over another heavy book to the other table. Serenity went over to help, and soon they had another image ready for Artemis to scan, then another on another table. They had each set up when Artemis said, "Either it's not working, or the system you're looking for isn't here."

"That's alright, it's probably that it's not there," Luna assured, pointing at the next set of charts, "Try those ones."

He smiled, "Yes, ma'am. Might a poor searcher have some lunch?"

Luna smiled and disappeared. Serenity stayed behind, approaching the volume Artemis left and flipped the page, looking over the same image again, portioned off into stick drawings. She smiled and read through the constellations, tracing the images with her eyes until she 'saw' it for what it was supposed to be. A few were funny and obvious – 'the dead mouse' 'sea-serpent' and 'crying lizard' for example – others were based off of mythology that she had trouble understanding. Luna returned soon with sandwiches and joined Serenity as Artemis had a working lunch.

Luna smiled, "Do you see Jereine?" she said, tracing out an odd combination of lines, "she's the patron of wisdom and patience. Mother used to say I was a blessing and a curse from Jereine; I never did get a good handle on patience," she said with a smile.

They explored other celestial figures as Artemis worked, moving from book to book as he finished with them. While Serenity was definitely entertained, she couldn't help the sadness and desperation every time Artemis changed position. It wasn't going to work. When they were on the last book, seeing the tour of the sky through even after Artemis had given up, Luna suddenly looked up, her expression curious, "Serenity, what is it like to travel through space?"

"Well," Serenity began, wondering how she could explain, "it's cold and oftentimes dark. There is no wind to rush past you as you travel on, nothing really to suggest that you've moved at all until you approach a star. You feel empty and a bit alone," she looked over to see Luna's eyes softening with a mix of compassion and disappointment, "but then there are the stars themselves. Perfect spheres of light, ever constant and spreading their energy outwards to anything they touch, always giving itself to you. And the nebulae – whether you see them as the cemetery of stars or the nursery, they are wonders to behold. When you're in one it's like you've been pulled into a rainbow. You're surrounded on all sides by warmth and, if you look carefully in just the right place, you can see them – the core of the dead star, or the pinpricks of light that signify a new star being born. Then there are the planets… they're like gems, shining in the light, coming in so many colors and sizes, with and without atmospheres, with and without surfaces. There are ones covered in vibrant clouds, filled with thunder and lightning, and ones without any atmosphere at all, just soaking up the rays of their star. Some planets are covered in water; some in ice; some are exploding with molten lava. Each one is different, a work of art in itself. Space is… breathtaking."

Luna smiled satisfactorily, her eyes dreamy with her own thoughts. Artemis, who had been listening as he finished Luna's half-eaten lunch, came closer. "I couldn't feel a place for you, Serenity," he said, "but I just know I'll find it."

"Thank you, Artemis," she replied, "even if it cannot be found, thank you for trying for me."

He nodded. They stood in silence, each in their own thoughts; Serenity planning her next route, when Artemis suddenly started to laugh, "C'mon, let's go do something fun. You've been here two days and spent them in a museum and a library! There's still plenty of sunshine left; let's go kite-flying!"

"Kite-flying?" Serenity repeated. She was no stranger to kites, but that flying kites came first when thinking up fun activities was amusing.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, "Let's go, let's go."

As Artemis stalked off towards the front, Luna called him back, "What about the books? We need to put them away!"

He turned around, scooped Luna up and threw her over his shoulder, "That's what librarians are for."

"Hey! This is _extremely_ undignified! Put me down!" Luna demanded as they worked their way back through the maze of shelving towards the entrance. "Artemis!"

"Luna Astareal! Quiet in the library!" a middle-aged librarian hissed at her from a distance.

"You're getting me in trouble!" Luna hissed, in turn, to Artemis.

"You're the one making a fuss," he corrected, making no move towards letting her down.

"What?"

"_Luna Astareal, don't make me involve your mother in this!"_ the librarian hissed again, shadowing them from another row of books.

"Great, they're involving my parents," Luna gave up with a sigh, propping her face up with her hand, her elbow pressing into Artemis's shoulder.

The rest of the afternoon was spent retrieving kites and picnic supplies from Artemis's house – a very nice place that clearly read _bachelor pad_ despite its sense of style – then continuing on to a large open park on the other side of town. After a few tries, they each had a kite in the air and Artemis was making up crazy games for them to play, like who could make the best figure 8, the best dive, the highest ascent; it was like playing with a child, but that made it all the more enjoyable.

They enjoyed a picnic dinner just after dusk and decided to stay around for the stars to show. Sometime after sunset but before midnight, Serenity fell asleep, curled in the picnic blanket…

She was shaken awake hours later, as one moon rose and another set, by a bright eyed Artemis. Shaking off her sleep, she sat up and looked around. They were still at the park, everything was dark and quiet; even the lights in the town had disappeared.

"Serenity," Artemis said in her ear, kneeling down next to her and putting one arm on her shoulder. With his other hand, he pointed up, just above the eastern horizon. "I found it."

"You…?" Serenity woke all at once, sitting up on her knees to see better. She leaned in to see exactly where Artemis was pointing.

"I found it, the system you've been searching for."

"But I don't see anything," she asked, using one eye, then another as she concentrated on the small black space where Artemis was pointing.

"Just wait."

It took about two minutes, two _agonizing _minutes, for her eyes to adjust, but then she saw it. A tiny pinprick of light. The system she had been searching for, at last. Her new home.


	8. Chapter 8

She was almost too excited to sleep again, quizzing Artemis for anything he knew about that star and its system. Artemis, for his part, could not say much about it – it was too dim to be given its own name, and was not a part of any of their constellations. All he could tell her was that it was what she was looking for – a star with one habitable planet and several inhabitable ones. Luna soon joined them, looking sleepily up at the dark region of space expectantly; although she was happy that Serenity's search was over, she nonetheless insisted that they return home and properly rest.

The park was a long way from Luna's house and as no carriages were available this late, their little group decided to stay with Artemis instead. Once they were inside Serenity stayed close to the eastern-facing window, staring at the empty place where her home would be, memorizing the surrounding stars to help her get her bearings in a few days' time. She tested the crystal fleetingly; so far as she could tell, it would still need a few more days before she could safely leave. She did notice, however, that it was giving more of its energy to the little one and wondered if that would mean her daughter would grow faster as a result. Based on the dimness of her new target, it would take the better part of 6 months to reach her destination, but that was without stopping. If the crystal was accelerating her daughter's growth rate, she'd have to stop and recuperate for longer periods of time. How long would it really take to get there?

"So… are you planning to leave sooner, now that you know where you're going?"

Serenity started, not having heard Luna come up behind her. The blue-eyed Mauan had asked innocently enough, but she couldn't hide the fleck of _something_ that crossed her face when Serenity turned. She couldn't identify what the look conveyed before Luna was able to hide it again. Suddenly her heart, which had been occupied with thoughts of travel and calculations, slowed a pace when the realization struck her anew: Four days. In four days, she would be saying her goodbyes to Mau and Artemis… and Luna.

She felt it again, the sense that in the past few days their friendship had grown at an amazing pace, and though they were not anywhere near as close as she was to Eos or Hy- Hyperion (her mind stuttered and froze at the thought of his name), she knew she would miss the two of them terribly. Perhaps, she thought, her own thoughts were what Luna's expression had betrayed?

She wouldn't leave just yet. She had been given four days by the King, Queen and Senshi of Mau, and she would take them. The difference between days in the upcoming journey was minimal, especially compared to the memories she would share with her two friends right here. "No," Serenity responded, scant seconds having passed since Luna posed the question, "I'd still like to stay longer, if that's alright."

Luna smiled brightly, "My house is open for as long as you need it." Artemis wandered in at that point, carrying an armload of pillows as he sleepily tripped and caught himself. "And, by extension, his as well," Luna added with a wink.

Artemis, having apparently not heard a word, yawned. "Well, ladies, it's pretty early, and while I do enjoy sleeping in, I've found I can't get to sleep with the sun in my eyes. Serenity, I remade my bed for you; there should be room enough on that thing for you both if you don't mind sharing."

"Thank you," Serenity said with a nod of gratitude.

"Actually, Artemis," Luna offered, "I think I'll sleep in here with you, tonight."

Artemis laughed roguishly, if sleepily, "If you insist, but I warn you that this pull-out sleeper is old, springy and noisy."

Luna rolled her eyes and showed Serenity to the bedroom, indicating a loose shirt for her if she wanted to change, and left with a warm 'goodnight.' As the door closed, Serenity shrugged off the cute (if a little dew-covered) dress and laid it carefully over the back of a chair as she tucked herself into the proffered shirt. As she crawled into bed she lay awake for several minutes, reviewing her plan for the future, for the safety of their daughter… and slipped into a dream.

"_Serenity,"_

_She turned around, finding herself suddenly back in the palace on Okeanos. It was remade, the walls, ceilings and floors like new, like they were before Necroma had invaded their home._

"_Serenity."_

_The voice repeated itself, a voice that she knew even better than her own. A sweet baritone that echoed in her heart. Where was he? She turned around again, searching for the owner of that voice, her wings lending rainbow hues to the view behind her. Still, no one was there, anywhere._

_Tentatively, she called back, "Hyperion?"_

_Suddenly arms wrapped around her from behind, holding her in a soft embrace. She reached up and held his forearms gratefully, leaning back into him and glancing up sideways to look at his face. His blonde hair shaded most of it from view, but she could clearly see the tip of his nose, the small scruff of hair on his chin and the faint outline of one deep blue eye. She breathed deeply, closing her eyes and drinking in the feeling of him. _

_When she opened her eyes again, they were outside in a familiar field by a well-known copse of trees. He stood before her, smiling his irresistible crooked smile, gazing down at her with warm eyes. The stars above lit the world around them so that everything shone with a soft grey light. "What are we doing here?" she asked, only slightly curious._

_Hyperion smiled, taking hold of one of her hands and leading her away towards the trees. They lie down together, still hand-in-hand, and looked up through the canopy, watching the leaves rustle in the breeze. "Remember coming here with Eos all those times?" He trailed off, gently squeezing her hand. She squeezed back, wordlessly telling him that she did, knowing that she could never forget those nights. "I miss her," he finished._

"_I do, too," Serenity confided, and continued on bravely, "but I know she's in a better place now. I saw it, Hyperion; it's mesmerizingly gorgeous, like a whirlpool made of diamond dust." She smiled, "She would've loved to see it. … but, then again, she saw it well before I did." They were quiet for a moment, and Serenity continued the thought, "I met the guardian of the Galaxy Cauldron. She was sweet, I think; definitely helpful if nothing else," she laughed, "unlike Okeanos's guardian-sprite. The minx."_

"_I had always wondered what your guardian-sprite was like," Hyperion wondered, still looking skyward._

"_She probably looked like me," Serenity teased, and he nudged her with his shoulder playfully._

"_I meant what she was really like. The Okeanos-sprite embodied the bouncy-mischievousness of Eos; would yours be full of nothing but grace and elegance, a beauty shining inside as well as out?"_

_Serenity blushed and bashfully tapped him on the leg with their enlaced hands, "Oh, stop it."_

"_Or maybe she would fall over her own two feet?" he laughed and she strangled his thumb with her thumb and forefinger._

"_Yeah, and I bet if we ever met yours he'd charm the paint off of a building and sell it."_

"_Only to buy pretty things for your sprite," he finished without skipping a beat._

_She rolled her eyes and shook her head with a chuckle, wondering what she would ever do with him, even as her heart raced to be near him again._

_Something was off. She rose halfway, using her outstretched arms as a brace as she looked up at the sky in puzzlement. The constellations… they were all wrong. She didn't recognize any stars in the sky over their heads. If the stars were wrong, then… "Hyperion," she asked slowly, "where are we?"_

_She looked back at him. His blue eyes slid from the stars above to her own eyes. He smiled again, a slow, soft smile, "We're home."_

"Serenity?"

She sat upright, "Hyperion?" The reply was automatic, but as she fully awoke she found she was no longer on Okeanos with her golden-haired lover, but in a well-put-together bedroom. Beside Serenity, her arm reaching out as if she had just touched the sleeping senshi, was Luna, her bright blue eyes surprised. "Oh, I'm so sorry," Serenity apologized, shaking her head, "Good morning, Luna," she greeted with a smile for the purple-haired Mauan.

"Good afternoon, you mean," Luna replied with a shadow of a smile. "It's a little past three in the afternoon."

"Oh," Serenity responded in shock. It hadn't seemed like any time at all had passed, but it had been the greater part of eleven hours since they had turned in. How odd, but not totally unheard-of.

"You… we couldn't really wake you up when we tried around noon," Luna offered hesitantly, "I was getting a little worried, to be honest." Suddenly the cat-like woman smiled cheerfully, "But you're up now and that's all that matters. I bet you and the little one are starving!" She stood and bustled about the room, tossing Serenity a new dress for the day, explaining that she had run home earlier to pick it up and thought that it was adorable. Serenity changed, listening to and participating in the small talk with Luna as her head let the vivid dream fade away, to be filed in her memory to never be forgotten. It had been so honest and open, just like how they used to be. Before leaving the bedroom she fished around in the pocket of yesterday's gown and retrieved the faintly-glowing sailor crystal.

They wandered into Artemis's kitchen where Luna scoffed at the lack of cooking equipment, searching deep in the backs of cabinets to find even a toaster. Eventually they scrounged up everything necessary to make a decent soup and set to work cutting vegetables and pouring in a pre-made stock "from last week when I was here," Luna marveled, "but then I guess he always does come over to eat at either my place or his brother's."

They sat together at Artemis's table (after dusting it off) with steaming bowls of soup and some toast to dip and started eating, Luna sharing about her favorite and least favorite vegetables whilst Serenity compared the ones that she had tried here on Mau to the ones she knew from her home world. Though some textures were very similar, the colors were occasionally very different, and some of the fruits Luna had offered her were downright alien in texture, color _and_ taste.

When they tired of food talk, they set straight to eating. Even as she scooped soup up to her mouth, her daughter demanded the taste of cinnamon sometime in the near future and Serenity smiled at the sudden insistence. She was about to ask Luna if they had anything that was spicy-yet-sweet when Luna asked a question of her own.

"So… Hyperion," the blue-eyed girl asked as Serenity's heart skipped a beat at hearing his name, "is he…?"

Serenity's eyes left Luna's and looked instead to her soup as she put her spoon down, gripping it tightly in one hand as a reminder to keep in control. She wanted to scream in anger and cry bitterly in despair at the same time; her heart screaming for some sort of release as his blue-eyed countenance forcefully danced before her, first smiling then suddenly shouting out in pain and defiance, blood pouring out of a gash across his eye. No matter what happened in her dream, no matter what or how she wished otherwise, _Hyperion was dead._ He wasn't coming back. She wouldn't touch him again. There was nothing she could do now – her time for saving him had long since passed, and though she had destroyed the monster that killed him, it wasn't enough. Cynically she thought that it was probably the added power of her emotions at losing him that had won the fight, yet what was winning worth if he was gone?

And he was gone. He felt like she had to keep remind herself of that, to keep driving the stake farther and farther into herself. Could she have saved him? He was gone. She would never again catch a glimpse of him across a crowded room, or be subtly flirted with while discussing official matters. She'd never watch him practice with his swords and lances, never hear him sing the war ballads he loved so much, or hear the humorously-pitiful attempts at poetry. He was dead, and she had had a hand in killing him. If she had been stronger, if she had stayed by Sailor Okeanos's side when the senshi had used the whistle, he would be alive. They all would be. He died, it was at least in part her fault, and there was no bringing him back. Her heart was thumping in her ears, the shape of the spoon biting in to the flesh of her hand as the need to yell threatened to overcome her.

But then, like a splash of ice-cold water across her face, the baby kicked softly, reminding Serenity of her presence. She was their child, his daughter. … and she was keeping Luna waiting.

"He was the man I loved, and the father of my child." Serenity replied coldly, prying her fist apart to reposition the spoon. Though she had little appetite anymore, she took another spoonful of soup to her lips. "He died."

She didn't see Luna's reaction but heard her hurried apology. They finished their meal in silence, Serenity taking the time to focus on breathing, on pulling herself back into where she was and the person she wanted to be. She thought only of the present and the future. There was nothing she could change about the past, so she wouldn't focus on it. She would keep moving forward.

By the time their toast was gone and the soup in their bowls had disappeared, she was feeling almost normal again. She finally looked over to a guilty-looking Luna, who had drawn her body into as tight a position as she could while sitting; if she had cat-ears, Serenity knew they'd be flattened against her head in shame. She hadn't intended to cause Luna any harm, but knew even as she thought it that a small part of her had meant to sound cold to illicit such a response – that small part wanted Luna to feel a fraction of the pain her question had caused. But now… How could she fix this? Maybe…

"So," she posed in a quiet tone, "Do you happen to have a spice here on Mau that you associate with sweets?" She smiled and cocked her head to the side, "I've gotten a request."

Luna looked confused by the sudden change in atmosphere, but, apparently as eager as she in wanting to move past this, the Mauan girl jumped eagerly to her feet, "I think I know the ticket! Let's head back to my house – do you enjoy baking?" Luna offered Serenity her hand, and the silver-haired woman took it appreciatively. All was forgiven between the two, and they happily collected whatever possessions they had stored at the working Artemis's home, walked into town, hailed a carriage and returned to Luna's house. The rest of the afternoon and well into the evening was spent baking different varieties of cookies, searching joyfully for that missing taste that the developing girl craved so much. Six batches of cookies and a cake later, they found it.

Artemis entered Luna's sweet-smelling house to find two laughing girls covered in flour, their arms up to their elbows flecked with bits of batter and their aprons covered in different colors, the kitchen delightfully messy and filled with nearly one hundred baked goods. He smiled and declared himself the official taste-tester, teasing them about the slightly-burnt appearance of one particular batch and the overly-sweet flavor of another. Very soon, he, too, was covered in ingredients as the two bakers attacked him for his disrespect of their treats.


	9. Chapter 9

_Flames. _

_Serenity backed away from the blaze, her arms reeling as the heel of her shoe caught in a crack and she fell back, her elbows hitting the pavement as she looked around in stark confusion. The flames spread on every surface, even from the stone itself, steadily eating everything in its path. Among the flames, bright red and blood red, rose the capital city._

_Then the screaming began. _

_A thunderous roar of voices cried out all around her, voices of men, women and children. Their wails echoed in despair, pain and fear, desperate to be heard above the white noise of the flames. Movement down the street caught her attention and her eyes fell upon slight creatures lumbering now towards her. What were they? Humanoid but their limbs jut out at odd angles, as if broken – what were they? Just as they were getting close enough to truly see, something grabbed onto Serenity's arm and dragged her forcefully backward, sprawling her on her back as a face bent down to meet hers._

_Eyes without pupils set in skin spongy and green in death seemed to stare straight at her, the face getting closer and closer to her own. Shivers climbed Serenity's spine and she shrieked shrilly in fear, trying to loosen her arms to push the being away but finding she couldn't move. The face, its brown hair dripping down to surround them both in a veil of dusty strands, reacted by screaming back at her, contorting as the mouth opened wider than humanly possible. The brows above the blank eyes furrowed in rage as the scream continued, compounding the noise around her and grating against her nerves. It leaned in and touched its squishy forehead to her own, its nose pressed up against hers as the deadly rage-filled cry continued. _

_Her skin crawled at the touch. "NO! GO AWAY! GET OFF OF ME!"_

_The monster just screamed louder. With great effort Serenity rolled to the side and backwards, kicking the being's body away from her own and using the remaining momentum to pull herself to her knees. The creature, the dead citizen of Okeanos, turned to face her, tears streaming down its face now. It threw its arms to the sky, leaned its head back and exploded into flames. Serenity flung herself away from the combustion only to be caught by two sets of arms that held her in place. _

_From the look of their skin she knew they were the same. "No!" she struggled against their grip, but to no avail._

_They both chanted in dead whispers, their heads turning sideways to stare at her from other side with blank eyes. _

"_NO!" she cried._

_Unblinking, they advanced. Their heads continued to turn until the faces were at ninety degree angles with their necks and then more. Shaking her head in fear and denial, Serenity pushed backwards, her feet scrabbling for purchase on the pebble-strewn ground. The pyre before her suddenly ended and the brown-haired girl stood as a skeleton, pointing one bony finger towards her accusatorily. _

"_What do you want?"_

_The figure did not waver, the skeletal figure unmoving as the whispers beside her intensified. What were they saying?_

_A shadow above was the only warning she had before something heavy landed beside her. The undead shot away as if blasted, crashing against the broken buildings and scrabbling to escape. As soon as she was freed, Serenity pushed herself to her feet and made to run, but the new arrival didn't let her get far. With a cry she fought against the arm._

"_Wait!"_

_The voice… human. She turned; it sounded almost familiar. A hood covered most of the face, and though she did not recognize the man, she was pulled into an embrace. Hyperion? The arms felt secure, but still she was uncertain. The din around them quieted with her face pressed against the black cloak. Perhaps it was Hyperion, come to save her._

_He pulled her back, fingers curling about her chin to direct her face for a kiss. As she drew closer, her eyes closing almost automatically, she felt another wave of something amiss and she opened her eyes just in time. _

_She screamed and struggled, beating her fists against him but she could not free herself from his grasp, his fingers on her face and his hand pressed against the small of her back holding her in place like a vice. Still she screamed and thrashed, even as she was pulled closer and closer to the maw of the monster. Green, juicy flesh was sliding away by the second, bubbles of decaying gas rising to the surface. _

_Necroma._

"Serenity!"

"Serenity, wake up!" a deeper voice commanded as she felt two weights settle around her on the bed.

Her silver eyes opened to see the ceiling of the room, not the crumbling, burning city or the monsters around her. She pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes, breathing heavily despite having gone nowhere, pulling fresh air into her panicked lungs.

"Serenity," cool fingers touched her arm and she had to touch them – they were alive. If no one else, these two were. Using one hand as a prop she sat up and threw herself at Luna, holding her slim figure as a lifeline as she cried frightened tears. She was being childish, behaving as a toddler would, but she didn't care, her heart thumping painfully in her chest as she held on to the link to this world of the living. She felt the cooler hands wrap around her as Luna returned the embrace, saying something over Serenity's shoulder to Artemis. The second weight left the bed and Luna leaned in, pressing her head against Serenity's reassuringly. "It's okay, you're safe. You're both safe, it's okay," she murmured repeatedly.

Just as she got control of her breathing the lights switched on overhead. She turned to see Artemis appear through the doorway, a steaming cup of hot chocolate in one hand, her favorite type of cookie in other. She didn't much feel like eating, but Luna stood, emptying her arms as Artemis pressed the warm cup and cool treat into her hands. "Drink it," Luna said authoritatively, and so Serenity did.

She and Artemis set themselves up at the foot of the bed, watching Serenity gulp down the hot drink, not moving until she finished. The soothing warmth did make her feel better, and when she was done Artemis reached for the cup, placing it on the dresser as she picked at the cookie. Her heart had slowed, her breathing returned to normal.

"Serenity," Artemis asked imperatively, "why are you here?" His green eyes stared into hers intensely, one pale hand in a fist on the lilac comforter, the other resting on the leg of his striped pajamas. His white hair was knotted and stuck out all over the place, suggesting that both he and the equally disheveled Luna were awakened by whatever sounds she had been making and had immediately jumped out of bed.

His question threw her off – why was she here? She had told them before. "I am looking for a new home."

"Why?" Artemis continued in the firm tone, the force behind his words pulling the answers out as surely as if she had no choice in the matter.

"I must keep her safe," the thought of the skeletal hands reaching towards her made her cringe.

"What about your home? What about Okeanos?"

"It is…" she remembered the stark scene, the gray lifeless rock, the ring system of debris that once made up her world. Her eyes glazed over, thinking about her last hours on Okeanos, watching it in her mind's eye as a passive observer as the present became unfocused. "It is gone."

"What happened there?"

Luna reached over and took her hand, but Serenity barely noticed. "Necroma, the embodiment of death itself. He was summoned on another part of the world by those foolish, selfish hearts who believed they deserved more than they had. Seeking revenge, they channeled another dimension and pulled that monster through, from the deepest pits they could find, but the being that emerged was greater than they had anticipated. It used their life energies to keep the portal open, calling forth its army to invade the planet.

"It was all so sudden. Sailor Okeanos and I sensed the disturbance, but when we arrived we were too late. The Creature had made it through, his army stepping out of the portal in droves as the summoners lay dying. We were able to defeat many of the henchmen coming through, but Necroma swept us aside as if we were gnats. When we awoke that city had been destroyed, fires set and the people dead, the monster and his forces moving on. We got up and raced back to the capital to inform the queen and develop a strategy. As they set up defenses, she told us of a legendary weapon, the Winged Whistle, that would help us."

"_There is a weapon," the Queen said, pulling them aside and grasping her daughter's forearms, staring into eyes the two shades lighter than her own, "the Winged Whistle. It's been lost for generations, but my grandmother told me of it as a child. Eos, you and Serenity _must_ find this whistle if we are to survive this onslaught."_

"_But what does it do?" Serenity asked, stepping forward hesitantly, the chaos around her a little overwhelming for the seventeen year old to face._

_The Queen met her gaze and smiled determinedly, "I don't know, but it is said to be a gift from the gods. It will help us. Search for it, Senshi. Keep your awareness open and find the Whistle; it could be the key to our survival."_

Serenity continued the narration, a sense of self returning as the events of just over a year ago began to replay themselves in her mind. "Armies formed and fought to defend their territories, but Necroma ripped through them within days, always heading towards the capital and our Queen. The day that we discovered the whereabouts of the legendary weapon was the day he entered our kingdom."

"_Hurry!" Okeanos shouted as she ran, her booted feet dashing through the rocky cave with the ceiling too low to fly through. _

_Theia pushed her legs harder, the two senshi racing through the cavern at a breakneck pace, jumping off of protruding rocks to gain distance. "There's something up ahead!" Theia called, seeing a clear break between the stalactites and stalagmites. They broke through and felt the open air's caress. It was dark overall, yet tiny flecks of light reflected off the walls far in the distance._

"_Up!" Okeanos directed. Theia glanced up to see a breathtaking sight – a cathedral of crystal spires reaching towards the sky, the faint light in an opening high above bouncing off of their pointed forms and creating a room of rainbows high above their heads. The two warrior guardians jumped, their wings carrying them higher and higher, following a thick spire sticking up out of the ground as it turned from a deep gray rock to a shining crystal pinnacle, still growing towards the top of the cavern. When finally they reached its summit, they found sitting upon the small platform at its peak a tiny, silver whistle._

"_Praise them," Okeaons breathed, tentatively reaching to take the tiny cylindrical instrument in one gloved hand. As soon as the metal touched her, tiny rainbow-colored wings sprouted from its frame. "The Winged Whistle…"_

_She raised it to her lips and Theia reached out, "Wait! We don't know what it does! Let's bring it back to the palace – your mother might remember more, or the scholars might have discovered something in the libraries."_

_Okeanos nodded, her thick golden hair bouncing as she abruptly dove back to the ground, her short, midnight-blue skirt waving with the speed of the descent as her wings fluttered frantically. Theia turned and followed, leaving the crystalline cathedral behind._

"Okeanos and I raced to obtain the power amplifier, but by the time we returned it was already too late. The Queen, Okeanos's mother, had been captured, and we watched helplessly as Necroma crushed the life out of her, discarding her afterwards as a broken toy."

Serenity recalled the dream from the **other night**, an unbidden remembrance of the death of the Queen. Her heart seemed to weep as her minds' eye recalled Okeanos's cries for mercy on her mother's behalf, the horrible pain on her best friend's face when the creature had disappeared, leaving the woman behind to die…

_ Okeanos and Theia rushed forward to meet the pitiful form of the queen, but Theia already knew it was too late. Okeanos beat her there and she fell beside her mother's head, reaching forward to touch her but not knowing where she could without causing more pain. Theia stood back, wanting to be there for her friend but not wanting to intrude on this, their last moments together. Theia started to cry, leaning on her staff for support._

_ "Mother," Okeanos sobbed, her purple eyes overflowing with tears, "Mother, I'm sorry. We didn't get here in time," she sobbed, unable to continue._

_ "E…os…" the queen breathed heavily, her words thick with blood and masked pain, "did… did you…"_

_ "Yes, mother, we found it," Okeanos cried._

_ The queen sighed, some of the anxiety fading from her face, along with the pain. This was it. Okeanos seemed to realize this as well, as her sobs became even more frenzied. "S… save Oke…anos…"_

_ "We will, mother. We will." Okeanos cried harder, "I love you."_

_ "I love you… too… my –" she coughed, blood pouring from her mouth, but her eyes found her daughter at last, their pained blue orbs barely focusing as she slipped away, "Eos."_

_ She screamed out, reaching again for her mother's body, her cries echoing the pain of her people. Her good arm cupped her mother's cheek as she looked desperately into the woman's eyes as if willing the soul to return. Theia couldn't look away, her closest friend's mourning wails cutting through her heart. Slowly, her legs like lead, Theia approached the pair. She knelt down beside them and put her arm around the survivor as she gently closed their Queen's eyes. Sailor Okeanos's sobs were coming so quickly that she was having trouble breathing; Theia gently pulled her away, tearing her frenzied gaze from the poor woman's broken, bleeding corpse and hugging her close. Eos cried into her collar, her fist curling desperately into the material below Theia's wings._

"The anger of the people won back the city and we were given more time; but every second we wasted strategizing or attempting to figure out our new tool was another second wherein someone, somewhere, was dying. Okeanos couldn't take it…"

_Sailor Theia flew frantically over the countryside, finally spying a bust of bright blue light. She raced towards it, a beacon of her partner's whereabouts. Okeanos had unexpectedly disappeared again, the fourth time in two days; this time Theia knew generally where to find her, but it made the flight there no less frantic. _

_As she flew closer she saw the thick mob of devils, Sailor Okeanos's strikingly golden-blonde ponytail shimmering amongst them as she threw out another attack, another burst of bright blue water that smashed over them all, sending creatures reeling in other direction, thronging to attack her on all other sides._

_With a cry, Theia joined the fray. Her staffed whipped about her in a semicircle, clearing the way to stand at Okeanos's back. Together they fought, throwing attack after attack at the armed creatures, knocking them down. Behind her she heard her friend's labored breathing and fought harder, intent on ending the battle before Okeanos was finished. Finally the creatures still alive fled, and Sailor Theia turned just in time to catch her drooping partner, covered in cuts and bruises, blood seeping through the stomach of her outfit. For the fourth time, Okeanos had gone out in search of a fight, throwing everything she had at the invaders, very nearly at the cost of her own life. _

_Theia supported her partner and took to the sky, fearing for her friend and her obsessive need to fight…_

_Later on she approached Eos, who had healed almost completely under the tender energies of her guardian planet. The purple-eyed girl stared fiercely out of a window overlooking the sieged city, her arms tight across her chest._

"_Eos," Serenity started quietly, determined to be heard this time. "You're being reckless. You cannot just go out searching for a fight – we need to be here, we have to figure out what the whistle does and –"_

_Eos turned on her, her hands shooting out expressively, "And let our people die? Every second we waste in here puzzling over that damned thing is another second a child is murdered, innocent people torn apart for sport! We can't wait any longer, Serenity. It's time to act! My mother told me to save this planet, and I WILL see it saved, no matter what you do to prevent that!"_

"_Eos," Serenity replied, shocked at the hostility in her partner's words, "I'm on your side."_

"_Then let me use it!" Eos lurched over, grasping Serenity's hand in her own, "Just let me try. Consequences to the wind, Serenity. I have to try to use the whistle – the dead outnumber those who still live, and we must put an end to this."_

_Serenity wavered. She had been vehemently against it, sure that there must be negative consequences involved. They didn't even know what the weapon did; who knew its true purpose? Would it negatively impact them? Would it kill the user? … but… the statistic was heartbreaking. Over half the city dead in those hit-and-run attacks? Not to mention those in the outlying cities… Staring into the desperate eyes of her childhood friend, Serenity nodded in acquiescence. _

_Eos was driven almost mad in the end. Necroma appeared suddenly outside the city, and without telling Theia, Okeanos ran out to meet him. By the time Theia reached the scene of the battle, it was too late…_

_Okeanos, battered and beaten, knelt on the ground before the dark giant, her wings torn and her fuku ripped to pieces, barely hanging off of her bloodied body._

"_Okeanos!" Theia cried from a distance as Necroma raised one hand as if to squash her friend like a pest, but the movement of her blue-clad partner caught her attention. She took something small out of her outfit - The Winged Whistle! Okeanos put the tiny implement to her lips and began to blow. Hope rushed through Theia as the sound grew, emitting higher and higher pitches as energy grew and crackled all around the senshi of Okeanos, swelling with her call._

_Necroma must have understood what was going on. He screamed, a deep sound that shook the ground to its very core, and reached towards the kneeling senshi. Her purple eyes intent on the being as she continued to blow, Okeanos did not move. Flesh tore from his fingers as he got closer, and he sent a shockwave of energy from his fingertips like many daggers. These energy spikes tore through Okeanos, ripping her skin open and, despite her resolve, the third such blast resulted in her losing control._

_As soon as the whistle fell from her lips, his attack intensified. Theia got to her just in time for her form to crumble into dust, a tiny blue light fading from where her heart had been. There was simply nothing left – no corpse, no bones, no hair… no whistle. It was as though the attack had caused a pressure so severe it had disintegrated Sailor Okeanos's very body._

_A tightness swelled in Theia's chest; it had happened so suddenly. Just like that, Eos had died and the so-called weapon her mother had asked them to find was destroyed. It was all for nothing, there was simply no hope left… and her friend, her golden-haired sister, was dead. Theia sat sprawled on the ground beside the pile of dust, staring into space as she fought to recall every detail of Eos, of Sailor Okeanos, before they, too, could disappear._

"_Foolish senshi!" Necroma bellowed towards her, his voice booming over the city for all living inhabitants to hear. "Do you surrender now?"_

"_Never," Theia replied, quietly but with strength as tears rolled down her cheeks, falling into the remains of her best friend of eighteen years._

"_Tomorrow at sunrise, foolish guardian, we shall fight in a battle that all may witness. The winner of our battle shall determine the fate of this pathetic planet and all of its survivors." He laughed and disappeared, teleporting away to wherever he hid._

_Hyperion appeared minutes later and helped her to her feet, leading her away grimly._


	10. Chapter 10

Serenity blinked her silver eyes, refocusing on Artemis. "Sailor Okeanos was destroyed, her body disintegrated before my eyes, along with the Whistle that should have been our salvation. Necroma declared a battle between the two of us to determine the fate of the planet. Even then I knew that if he were allowed to win, he would continue spreading death and destruction on other planets.

"The next morning I met him at dawn, as he had requested. He held nothing back…"

_She awoke just before dawn and silently slipped out of bed, not wanting to disturb the man resting his head on the adjacent pillow. She left everything in its place as she crept towards the door, pausing with her hand on the frame to look back on his peaceful, sleeping face. She wanted to touch him, one last time… but she fought the urge, knowing that if he woke up he would insist upon following her. She didn't want him there; she wanted to know he was safe, nowhere near the battle about to begin. False dawn streaked across the horizon, the pink light turned red in the hue of the devastated city. Looking through the window at the ruins beyond, Serenity steeled herself and, glancing once more upon the man she loved, she left._

_Halfway down the hallway she transformed, "Theia Star Power, Make-up!" walking proudly in her golden high heels towards the battle that would determine the fate of the man she left sleeping in their room, the world that they had known._

_Leaving the palace, she jumped into the sky, her hand holding her staff before her as she struck across the city, above the crumbled, broken structures. So many people had died, so many homes ruined, families broken… she thought of Eos and the Queen and tears came to her eyes as she put on a burst of speed. She saw him in the distance, a towering vaguely-human shaped mass of a creature, dressed in flowing robes that only loosely disguised the rotting flesh that covered his body._

_She flew within speaking range and hovered at the level of his eye, her staff in one hand._

"_Senshi," the monster growled, "you are early."_

_Ironic; looking around at the dying land, once so vibrant and green, she thought herself too late. She said nothing in response, waiting with the eastern sky against her back. An evil smirk slowly took over the monster's face as the landscape brightened. Still she waited, facing off against the twenty-foot tall giant that seemed to take such joy in death._

_As soon as she felt the first rays of Theia's light behind her, the senshi struck. "THEIA SHINING DUST!" she cried, sweeping the staff in front of her as the projectiles launched themselves in the arc she made, straight for the monster's face. He lifted his arm across his hands to block the attack, and Theia took the opportunity to dash over his head. "THEIA GLITTERING LIGHT!" the concentrated beam of energy shot from her like a laser, streaming to hit the creature's skull._

_Growling angrily, Necroma moved on giant arm to fling her from the air, but she managed to evade, spinning out of the way just in time. As she regained her senses he shot a blast of energy at her, a blow that felt like someone had punched her entire body. As she sailed backward with the impact, Necroma lurched forward and batted her to the ground. She bounced once, cringing with the pain, but rolled away immediately and took again to the sky as one foot slammed down where she just lay sprawled._

_Again she attacked…_

_Hours passed in such a manner, both hitting blows and being struck themselves as their battle for the fate of the planet continued. Theia had wondered at first why the creature had made such a challenge – if he had but used the attack that had destroyed Okeanos, she would be defeated in seconds; the battle was just for show, it must be… and yet, as they continued their fight, his skill did not seem so far above her own. As his anger grew, his attacks flinging wildly, Theia realized that Necroma seemed less than what he was at the beginning of their fight. That must have been it – the threat made the day before was for his own survival; the attack he used on Okeanos must have drained him, and he challenged her for a final battle as a means of escaping while he still had the energy to do so._

_If only she had struck back the day before… but it was too late to think such thoughts. As her star made its way across the sky, she, too, tired; her energy dropping faster than his now. It was then that she made a mistake._

_She had thrown her Dust at him, moving away before the glittering material caught hold, flying towards what she had thought was safety, but in her weariness she was too slow. He caught her, midair, squeezing tightly for a brief few moments of pain. She summoned her attack, the dust bursting from the open flower above her staff to land on the circle of his hand. The bits embedded themselves in his skin and exploded violently. Reacting to the pain, Necroma hurled her towards the city, where she hit a stone building hard and fell to the ground, panting._

_Every breath drawn was drawn in agony, alerting her to bruised ribs and broken wings. She would fly no more. She glanced back towards the monster just in time, dashing out of the way as he sent a blast of energy towards the very spot where she stood. With force so great that she counted herself lucky to have survived, Sailor Theia managed to avoid the crumbling structure, but she lost her staff in the process._

_Hastily she took cover behind a small house, sure that he would not be able to muster up such strength again so soon, and looked back. Her heart skipped a beat – all was not lost. The building had crumbled inward, for the most part; her staff lay exposed._

_How could she get to it?_

"_No quarters offered!" Necroma's voice bellowed from overhead. Theia looked up, startled; how had he approached so silently? One giant arm raised, he backhanded the house, aiming for her._

_Somehow she dodged, skidding on her front on the pavement just below her combatant's hand. She flipped onto her back, aiming her hand up at his face. "THEIA SHINING LIGHT!" she cried, bright energy ripping from her and throwing back his cowl. _

_The face beneath made her mind freeze with horror. A gruesome, sickly greenish black rotting-flesh-covered skull looked back at her, grinning at her with sparks of green in his eyes that screamed malice…_

_She took control of her thoughts, realizing that he had paused to hypnotize her. Keeping her expression the same, she concentrated on gathering her energies, soaking up as much as she could on this attempt. Her arm was still directed towards him; with a focused prayer, she again fired her attack, Theia Glittering Light, in a directed attack at one eye socket. A steady stream of light erupted from her outstretched palm, sparkling as it shot laser-like into the monster's face, burning into his face in what Theia hoped to be the final strike._

_Necroma howled in pain and fury, jerking backwards and out of the path of the energy, his hand gripping at his injured face. She followed his movements as best she could, but the attack ended, finishing the energy she had reserved. In the very next moment pulled herself to her feet and made a dash for her staff._

_She made it. Dropping down and with a hard tug, she pulled the implement free and turned to see Necroma, still clutching his face, pointing at her with his other hand. Energy streaked out of the extended finger, arcing through the air in a dark streak towards her. She was too slow – there wasn't even enough time to call forth a shield, even if she had the energy. This was it. _

_In her last moments she thought of the blonde she had left in bed this morning, his charming smile and sweet voice…_

"Just when I thought I was done for, a man shot out of nowhere, pushing me out of the way to take the blast. He died to protect me, even though I was fighting to save him."

_As if summoned by her thoughts, a streak of yellow hair leapt between her and the oncoming energy. The blast hit the strong, young man with deadly force, knocking him backwards, striking Theia and sending the both of them crashing into the broken building, where Theia hit against an upturned end of stone, pinned between the rock and her savior for a brief second before the two bodies rebounded forward, falling to the ground in a heap. _

_Theia recovered first, the back of her head aching from the blow, but not nearly as bad as the urgent pull that gripped at her heart. She untangled herself from him and the rock that had fallen with their impact, giving herself room to work in. Fumblingly, she turned her love over onto his back, her eyes flickering from his face to the gaping wound in his chest, a burning gash that was quickly filling with blood. Without thinking, she leaned forward and put pressure on the wound, her white gloves soaking up the crimson of his life. Beneath her hands she felt a heartbeat, fain and shuddering, but there. _

"_Hyperion," she called, leaning on one hand as she freed the other, tearing off the bloodied glove with her teeth. "Hyperion," her voice called, a plea coloring the name. She touched his face, carefully moving his long bangs aside. There was no reaction._

"_Hyperion," she repeated: a whimper. Her whole body started to shake so violently she could not tell whether his heartbeat continued, or if the faint convulsions were just echoes of her own. "Please…"_

_Through eyes filled with tears, she saw his face twitch. She cupped his face in her hands, leaning in towards him, bidding the tears to fall so that she may see him clearly. His eyes opened with some struggle, his blue orbs seeming to search for something. "Se….renity," he breathed, his chest shuddering. _

"_I'm here," she replied urgently. At the sight of his hand twitching, she grasped it in her own, disregarding the blood that covered it so thoroughly as she laced her fingers into his. His lips twitched as if to smile, and she brought his hand up to her cheek, leaning into his soft skin as the tears finally fell._

"_Stay… safe." She nodded, thinking even as she did so that that was what he was supposed to be doing: staying safe for her. His eyebrows furrowed in pain, and his eyes urgently looked into hers, fear a shadow flitting across his features. Her breath caught as her insides squirmed – he was afraid. _

_She gripped his hand tighter, "I won't leave you," she promised._

"_You must… live." The look of desperation took over his face again, his eyes tracing her features as if fighting to remember her. _

_She cried harder. "Hyperion!"_

"_I love you," he breathed, his eyes pleading. Knowing the silent wish, she leaned in and kissed him, his lips moving softly beneath hers in a final goodbye. She pulled back, her face hovering just above his as her free hand traced her thumb along his hairline, finally weaving her fingers into his hair._

"_I love you, Hyperion," she said, resting her forehead against his as they looked into each other's eyes. Her hand gripped his, their interlaced fingers held to her breast. As the moment drew on she saw the fear melt away, his being staring into hers and taking strength in the love and resolve it saw there. Finally his eyes closed, and Hyperion slipped away._

_But she wasn't even allowed that moment to mourn, as the creature outside bellowed out in laughter. Laughter, at the pain and suffering he had caused, the death at his own hands and those of his minions. Laughter that would continue indefinitely, should she not stop it, taking countless more lives. Kissing the back of his hand for the last time, Sailor Theia took her staff and stood shakily, using the instrument to help her through the rubble and over the partition, out into the glowing afternoon light._

_Upon seeing her, Necroma's laughter stopped short. "His death tasted sweet."_

_Her eyes shot open in anger, in pain, in righteous fury at the demon before her, the terrible creature that fed off death as its life force. A creature that lived to kill, killed to live and took joy in his twisted existence. This would not continue any longer!_

"With my anger and sorrow I called upon my guardian star, Theia, and it answered, sending forth a stellar flare that both distracted Necroma and boosted my strength. I lost myself in that power and my desire to see the end of the monster that had destroyed everything I held dear. Again we fought, and with the power flowing through me I was finally able to defeat the monster."

_She leapt skyward, her broken wings carrying her no farther than a long jump; she landed in the field before the great monstrosity, her bloodied silver hair whipping about her, and in her just anger she cried out the phrase that came to mind, a new power given to her in her time of extreme need. Planting the staff between her feet, aiming its petal tip at the hulking mass, Sailor Theia cried "THEIA STELLAR FLARE!"_

_Light burst simultaneously from her staff and the golden globe of the star over her shoulder, distracting the monster as the intense heat and light echoed forth from her weapon. At first touch, Necroma jolted, fighting to raise an arm to block the attack, but Theia held firm. He was trapped at last, surrounded in a power so strong that he could not hope to escape. He would not be allowed to escape._

_Necroma cried out in anger, his scream a shockwave that traveled outward, knocking down the remaining buildings in the city behind her, pulling trees from their roots with its raw power. Still she held strong, thinking of the dead world now compared to the beautiful paradise of a few short weeks ago. She fought now to avenge the creatures that had died, the plant life that had suffered._

_A layer of his body tore away, bursting into nothingness as the skeletal frame shouted again. Another burst of energy, more destruction. She fought now to avenge the faceless masses of the peaceful people of Okeanos, the mothers, the children, the lovers and friends._

_She fought now to avenge the Queen of Okeanos, the woman who had been surrogate mother to her. The blast emanating from her staff intensified noticeably. She fought now for her best friend, her sister in heart if not blood, Eos. The color of light intensified, glowing ever whiter in the fury. Necroma screamed again, what was left of him thrashing in the enveloping light. She fought now to avenge the keeper of her heart, Hyperion._

_The resulting blast vaporized the nightmare, but the shockwave following his demise served as his final curse. The force field bounced back, ripping through the ground below and all around, spreading farther and farther, ripping off the topsoil down to the bare rock and throwing it skyward as a great wind swept the remains up._

_As this final deadly force swept past, Theia's staff protected the weakened senshi, creating a bubble-like shield that enveloped her as the world was destroyed around her. The ground erupted skyward as the rock was shaved from beneath her feet; the final power of Necroma shearing the top layer of the planet off and sending the remains into space. _

"But with the energy he had left to him, he cursed my planet. Sending out shockwave after shockwave, his dying form stripped up the top layers of the planet – the greenery, the water, the animals and survivors… all were killed and sheared from Okeanos, thrown out into space in a final act of destruction. Only the power of my star protected me."

Serenity looked down to her hands, clasped tightly before her, and lapsed into silence. The hurt and pain had lessened drastically within her, just having talked through the events leading up to the obliteration of her home made the events less wounding. Honestly, this was the first time she had reflected upon the events, even though an entire year had passed. While in flight she pointedly thought of only her mission, her child or of nothing at all, not wanting to relive the terrors of the end of her homeworld. The effect was her nightmares, her memories fighting to get through and be dealt with so that her friends and loved ones could finally be laid to rest in her heart.


	11. Chapter 11

"The man who had saved you was Hyperion, wasn't it?" Luna asked quietly.

"Yes," Serenity verified, her voice soft and reflective.

"Did he know about the baby?" Luna asked. Artemis deduced whom they were talking about at this question.

The corners of Serenity's mouth twitched up slightly as she responded. "The night before the battle was when I found out," she said, a true smile breaking out through the tears that streamed down her face as her voice trembled, "he was so excited!"

"_I love you." Her head rested against his shoulder as they sat together in the crumbling halls of the palace. Even as soon as the admission left her lips another piece of rubble dislodged itself and fell with a resounding thunder somewhere in the halls beyond. Her hand gripped his tighter in response, wishing they were anywhere but here, where they were surrounded by ruin. His presence was the only thing that kept her from dissolving – he made her feel stronger than she thought herself to be, he reminded her why she was fighting and what awaited her once Necroma was destroyed._

_He returned her squeeze, "I love you, too," he replied, "more than anything." They sat together in relative silence, each trying to forget the havoc and ruin that had momentarily stopped outside. The death toll was in the hundreds of thousands; they were losing, badly. "Serenity, please, let me come with you tomorrow."_

"_No!" She straightened, turning to stare pointedly, pleadingly into his dark blue eyes, so full of resolution that she was determined to undermine. "No, you can't. Hyperion, you can't –"_

"_You can't go alone! I won't let you," he responded heatedly, "Without Eos you'll be a sitting duck out there, a sheep waiting for the slaughter. Let me go with you, to protect you in whatever way I can!"  
><em> 

_Her heart cried out at the mention of her late friend and ally, but this only strengthened her further against his plans. Putting a hand softly to his cheek, she said, "You can protect me best by keeping yourself safe. So long as I know you won't come to any harm I can fight my hardest to keep you that way; that desire will make me stronger - I might even be able to defeat him and spare the remaining lives here, on Okeanos. We can rebuild; we'll find all of the survivors and –"_

_He hugged her close, his hand pressed softly against the back of her head. She breathed him in, clutching the back of his shirt to keep him close as tears of anger, of helplessness, of despair and of pain overflowed. What was she talking about? Necroma had proven his powers to be far superior to her own. There was no chance that the battle would end in their favor – this was simply another display of his prowess, a final strike before calling 'checkmate' and completely decimating everything. What would he do with the planet? Its people? The creatures? Did he mean to destroy it all, to kill everyone? What was his purpose?_

_It was as if the only thing Necroma was after was death, but how did he prosper from it? Was it just a sick game, the slaughter of so many people? That thought had driven Eos almost mad in the end. It was why she ran out there alone and faced him so foolishly. Serenity held Hyperion tighter, willing the vision of Sailor Okeanos's death away, but it continued to play anyway. The sight of Okeanos being torn to shreds… to be reduced to nothing but dust… _

_She held back a sob. It had happened so suddenly. Just like that, Eos had died and the so-called weapon her mother had asked them to find was destroyed. Eos… and then came the challenge that all would hear – the battle for the fate of Okeanos. Had that only been scant hours ago? She felt like she had been living with this heavy burden for so long now; it was hard for her to believe it had only been two weeks since the terror had surfaced and declared war._

_Eos… though she knew she was gone, it was as if her heart hadn't quite caught up yet. There was just a little hole, a touch of emptiness within her, when she knew that she should be screaming and aching. Part of her had just been stolen, her best friend of 18 years, and yet Serenity barely felt anything at all._

_All she could think of right then, surrounded by Hyperion's arms, was that she didn't stand a chance against the nightmare of their world, and she didn't want Hyperion anywhere near should she be defeated. If only she could send him away, somewhere beyond Necroma's reach. If only they could just fly away together… but they couldn't. She wouldn't abandon her people to such a fate, nor could she let this menace survive to attack another world. They would defeat him; they would survive and live on._

"_Please, Hyperion," she begged again, "Stay safe. If I lost you…"_

"_I know," he replied softly, breathing deeply and holding her even closer, but not as frantically as she had gripped him earlier. He was always calm in stressful situations, a source of peace and happiness; a pillar she could depend upon. He pulled away and she was taken aback to see unshed tears in his eyes. Her whole body reacted, her heart rising in her chest and her skin breaking out into goosebumps as her mind raced to figure out why he was crying. Seeing him upset broke her heart every time._

"_What's wrong?" she asked, her own face flushing with his pain. Was it Eos? He had known them both since childhood – was he feeling the loss she hadn't yet felt? Was it someone else? His parents were among the first to die in this; was it a memory of them that tore him apart now?_

_Instead of answering, Hyperion leaned his blonde head in and kissed her softly. Though shocked at first by its suddenness and unexpectedness, she soon returned the affection, closing her eyes to concentrate on him and block the rest of the world away. _

_Minutes passed, the two of them locked together in their own time. Their kiss was passionate, occasionally edging on desperate as stray thoughts of the state of their planet broke through, but with a slight touch the other was able to bring them back. _

"_Stay with me tonight," Hyperion's voice rumbled as they finally broke apart. She nodded – she wouldn't have it any other way. He stood and helped her to her feet. Hand in hand they picked their way through the disastrous hallway, walking in step with one another, still fighting to block out thoughts of the outside world. _

_It was when his quarters were in sight that Serenity felt it. It was as if a spark had gone off inside her, a small firework that sent a soft signal of warmth throughout the whole of her. She jolted and they stopped. Shakily she put her hand to where the shock had emanated from then quickly looked to Hyperion. His head was bent towards her, his eyes of concern, then a dawning realization as he saw where her hand was placed. "Hyperion?" her voice quivered._

"_Serenity," his voice did not. "is it…?"_

_They said that a senshi could feel it, the moment of conception. It had something to do with their being in tune with their special star seed; a different but powerful way to read energy signals that let them realize when something so close to them just starts to develop. As far as the actual description, the writing the senshi a generation before them had simply stated that they would know it when and if it happened. Many senshi were sterile, their bodies created and honed to protect and do battle, and while they were the epitome of femininity and strength, oftentimes senshi were unable to reproduce themselves. But there were cases…_

"_I felt it," she replied in affirmation, "a new life…"_

_Hyperion reached out, planting his hands firmly on her hips and lifted her into the air, laughing and kissing her as he twirled them around. "Serenity! Serenity this is wonderful!" he laughed, setting her down. A smile had taken over his face, the first true, untroubled smile she had seen on him in days._

Luna left her hand on Serenity's as the silver-eyed young woman cried; while her thoughts were in a different time and place, the Mauan's thoughts were very much in the present. Staring at her silver head, Luna was amazed by the strength of this individual – this girl was barely a woman, and yet she had faced so much in her life already: the stress of being a senshi, the destiny of hundreds of thousands of people resting on her shoulders; the hopelessness of a one-sided fight, a fight that she could have easily fled from to save her own life; the crushing guilt at having failed to save even one person, let alone an entire planet. On top of that she had lost her partner to a death that Luna had problems even considering, and had watched as the man she loved died right in front of her…

Luna looked from the girl over to Artemis, her sky-blue eyes focusing on her most-important-person. If she lost him… her eyes filled at just the thought as her whole being rejected the very idea – it was almost like the ground was falling out from under her. A world without Artemis? How could that even be? Without his playful green eyes, his graceful movements, his teasing aggravations… her world wouldn't mean anything anymore. He sensed her staring and looked up at her, but she was able to look away just in time. Let him think the tears were for Serenity, not over a hypothetical situation.

Serenity had been through that and came out still functioning. Here she was, pregnant with the child of her dead lover, tens of light-years away from where she started, searching for a planet that might work as a shelter for her and her daughter, alone. Facing everything alone – how long would she have kept in her story if Artemis had not asked her to reveal it?

And still she managed to shine. Being around her was like standing in the glow of some friendly light – warm, welcoming, secure. Despite what she had been through, she was polite, honest, quick to smile and kind. Luna had come to both respect her regard her as a close friend; a friend she would not care to lose in three days.

Bravely, Luna returned her eyes to Artemis, willing him to meet her gaze. She had brought it up two nights ago, when he had found Serenity's new system, and again last night after the first hints of Serenity's pain shone through with the mention of Hyperion. She wanted to go with her when she left – to be at her side in her search, to help her however she could in preparing her new home, and to live with this brave woman for the rest of their lives. But she would not go without Artemis.

Mau was her home, but she had always felt that her true purpose was much greater than serving as an analyst. Late night pillow-talk had revealed that Artemis felt the same, but they had both thought the feeling was natural… before this. Luna felt that this was the calling just as surely as Artemis could feel out the location of lost things. She felt like she was meant to go with Serenity, that this meeting was more than chance, but she couldn't bear the thought of leaving Artemis behind. In their discussions the previous nights, Artemis had hinted that he felt the same, but he was more cautious – he wanted to know exactly what was going on.

Perhaps now he was satisfied. She waited for his green eyes, transferring her thoughts as soon as she had them. _We must go with her._

The weight on her chest lifted even more, and when the tears finally stopped Serenity felt freer. Wiping the moisture from her face, she took a deep breath and hope she didn't look too hideous as she turned to thank them for listening. She looked over to find Luna staring intently at Artemis, as if the two of them were holding a conversation with just their eyes. At her movement, Luna broke the stare and turned to her.

"Thank you for listening," Serenity said gratefully.

"Anytime, Serenity, now and always—" Luna answered, the last word interrupted by Artemis.

"Serenity, what are your plans? Why a system with so many uninhabited planets?"

She laughed. She had told them so much already, why not more? "So we can start from scratch, creating our own kingdom without treading on someone else's territory."

"But that's not the only reason, is it?" Artemis asked astutely.

Serenity considered; how much could she tell them? About the Galaxy Cauldron, her sailor crystal, her plan to awaken guardian senshi for her daughter's wellbeing? Would they think her shrewd, uncaring to awaken soldiers for the sole purpose of befriending and protecting Hyperion's precious child? She chose her words carefully, but with everything they had shared with her, their support and their care, she decided to tell them the truth. "After Okeanos was destroyed, I left in search of a place where our child would be safe. I worried consistently about how I could give her a secure future, but finally an idea came to me – if only she were a senshi, I kept telling myself, then maybe she could be safe. With a senshi's powers and the protection of a heavenly body, our child would have a fighting chance. The probability was minimal, however; but when I found myself suddenly at the gates of the Galaxy Cauldron, an idea struck me – perhaps I could give my daughter my own sailor crystal to protect and guide her. The Guardian of the Cauldron warned me against it, informing me of the consequences of such an action, but I just insisted and something _wonderful_ happened." Serenity closed her eyes and sighed, remembering the feeling, "the Cauldron blessed me, and gave me the gift. I would be allowed to live with my daughter, and we would share the sailor crystal for as long as I lived, and then it would be passed on to her. The catch was that I had to find a planet without a senshi to call my new home; my crystal would absorb within itself the unawakened crystal of that celestial body and align itself with this new place, rather than with my star, Theia. The crystal would truly belong to our daughter, but I would be allowed to wield it."

"Wait," Luna cut in, her brows furrowing as she concentrated to put the quickly-told tale together, "so your sailor crystal – is that the spherical gem you've been carrying around? The one that adorns your staff when you transform?"

Serenity nodded, but Luna was not quite finished.

"You said it would absorb the sleeping sailor crystal within a planet – how does that work? And does that mean your crystal would be twice as powerful as other crystals, if it holds within it the power of two celestial bodies?"

Artemis looked impressed by Luna's questions and shot his attention from his love back to her as Serenity answered.

"Star seeds are the life force behind every living star – every human. They are created within the Cauldron, then leave the Cauldron to become the life force of an infant, joining with the fetus at some point during the pregnancy. When the person, or the shell, dies, the star seed leaves it and returns to the Galaxy Cauldron, melting down to become one again with the life force of the galaxy. At a later time, the seed reforms and becomes another being.

"Sailor crystals are different. Sailor crystals take a long time to develop within the cauldron, and when they leave they do not immediately inhabit a developing child. Instead, they become one with a planet or star, aligning their powers together and joining them in purpose. The planet grants the sailor crystal powers, and the sailor crystal will allow its bearer to use those powers to protect the planet and the life forms living there. Only once the crystal has been completely attuned will it be born into a developing child. When the child is maturing, she will awaken as a Sailor Senshi, or he will partially awaken as a planetary guardian.

"Dead planets do not have senshi, as the planet has nothing it needs to protect. Therefore, I need to find a dead planet, one that still possesses its sailor crystal that my crystal might absorb it. When I bless the planet with Theia's power and the dormant crystal is absorbed, it will have the power of two celestial bodies and more. For, you see, while at the Galaxy Cauldron, the guardian informed me that the crystal had also absorbed some powers from the Cauldron itself. It was this information that led me to my current plan…" she looked at them, still wondering what their reactions would be at her intention to awaken senshi for such selfish reasons…

"Which is?" Artemis prompted.

"I plan to use the power of my sailor crystal to awaken other dormant sailor crystals. The circumstances surrounding their awakening will instill within them a duty beyond that of protecting life – it will instill them with a need to protect and love the possessor of the power that awakened them. … My daughter. In this fashion, she will not only have a powerful crystal to protect her, but also friends that will act as her guardians." She lapsed into silence, her face directed to the comforter a foot in front of her as she awaited their reactions, preparing herself both to defend her point and to leave, if they felt so uncomfortable around her.

"Brilliant." Serenity straightened, turning to a bright-eyed Luna who looked at her appreciatively. "I think it's an excellent idea."

"You don't think it's completely selfish, borderline obsessive?"

Luna laughed, "Not at all. You are giving the planetary powers a purpose – to protect a life. Without your help, the sailor crystals would remain dormant forever; they wouldn't be able to fulfill their potential to the slightest. Not only that, but you would also be granting mothers the exact gift you wish to give your own daughter – protection. You had said you wanted a system with at least one habitable planet – you are giving all of its citizens a great gift – the gift of senshi. With the power of your daughter's crystal and her guardians looking after it, that planet would be safe for ages to come!"

"But it also makes the planet a potential target – light attracts darkness, and with all of those senshi in one place it would be like a buffet to a starving man; too sweet to resist."

Luna looked over at Artemis as did Serenity – she had not considered that.

"But that would take years – centauries, even!" Luna protested, "it would be only for so long as they all lived that the planet would be a target, and even then, it would take a long time for evil to find it. The senshi you awaken – they would only have one life to live, is that right?"

Serenity considered. After the senshi she awakens die, long after she herself has been dead, their sailor crystals would return to the Cauldron. They would reform and return to their planets – unless life had sprung up within the timespan, there would be no reason for the sailor crystal to reawaken itself. They would only have one life to live, a life spent in bliss and tranquility with her daughter. She nodded, a smile sneaking across her face as she thought of such a scene. Friends for life, on a remote system during a peaceful time – it sounded wonderful.

"One lifetime of – oh, a thousand years, maybe? I'm only guessing, but you had said before that your people could live for centuries and given the strength of your crystal, I'm betting they would live longer. A thousand years is a blink of an eye in space-time; and even if evil were to find out where they were, their combined strength should defeat any evil that comes across them." Luna turned back to Serenity, Artemis's expression a little more open after Luna's heated debate. "I still think it's a great idea, Serenity."

Artemis nodded his head slightly, his voice a lot less serious than it had been since she had woken them up earlier, "it has merits. In any case, it sounds like it would be more than enough to ensure Luna's protection," he shrugged, "as well as my own."

Serenity cocked her head in confusion. What was he talking about? She furrowed her brows at him, a silent request to clarify himself, but he just smiled and winked at her. Luna stood, her sudden movement grabbing Serenity's attention as she walked smoothly around the bed to stand behind Artemis, her slight hands on his shoulders and a smile across her cute face.

"Serenity," she said, excitement bubbling through her attempt at a serious tone, "we would like to accompany you. Wherever you're going, for however long it takes, we want to go with you and help you in whatever way we can. Please, let us come with you!"


	12. Chapter 12

'_Please, let us come with you!_'

They… the two of them, Luna and Artemis, wanted to come with her. It took moments for the idea to really sink in, the phrase repeating as her mind struggled with the implications. As the logical part of her brain immediately started clicking through with what having these two with her would accomplish, her heart finally reacted. She wouldn't be alone anymore – she would face this future with people beside her; and at that, her friends, her dear friends. She immediately wanted to say 'yes,' to gather them and thank them repeatedly for offering, but at the same time she wanted to talk them out of it. They had lives here, families and careers; they couldn't just up and leave all of that behind. She… she would have to try to talk them out of it, for their own sakes.

"Thank you both, truly," she said, her heart in her words, "but I can't ask that of you. This is your world, your planet, your people. You have friends and family here, I can't just ask you to leave all of that behind for a future that is still so uncertain."

Artemis chuckled, "it's funny – I thought _we_ just asked _you_, not the other way around."

"We've already thought about all of that, really we have. Serenity, we want to go with you, no matter what that means here on Mau," Luna looked away for a moment. "My mother will understand; and one of my sisters just had _another _set of twins, so it won't be too bad for them."

Artemis reached up to take her hand comfortingly as he added, "and my brother's wife is expecting. The two of them are used to me ducking out for months at a time; I think they've been anticipating me to move for a while now, and what is this but one big move?"

"A big move you won't be able to reverse," Serenity commented, keeping her eyes on them to emphasize the point. "If you were to come with me, I don't know if I could ever take you back here. You would be as good as marooned with me."

"That doesn't sound so bad, actually," Artemis shrugged with a smile, his hand still holding Luna's.

Luna smiled in agreement, "I can't imagine why we would ever want to come back, honestly. You're creating a new world, Serenity, a new civilization and bringing into it such a bright and beautiful outlook. I'd like to be part of that. Besides," she laughed, "have you any experience with raising babies?"

Serenity opened her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it.

"I didn't think so!" Luna laughed even harder, all in good nature, "Did you expect to raise your baby _and_ the little senshi all by yourself, without any experience in the matter? I lived with my eldest sister, Bella, a few years ago, right after she had twins, and helped out. I know my way around children. I think you might just be forced to take us with you."

Serenity returned her smile, but was still hesitant. They seemed like they had been considering this for a while; and, honestly, it would be extremely useful to have with her someone trained in city defense and a person talented with locating things. If nothing else, in the latter stages of her pregnancy they would be extremely helpful as her hands and eyes of the new kingdom, a pair that she could trust completely.

She sighed, "I guess the only thing left to do is to speak with your King, Queen and senshi about it." Luna and Artemis looked as if they had won a battle, and Serenity, smiling and full of gratefulness towards the two of them, rose to her knees and pulled them into a hug. "Thank you," she said simply.

The next morning was a quiet one for Serenity. Artemis left early to arrange an audience with the royals while Luna went to visit her mother to tell her of their plans. Serenity chose to stay behind and give Luna's mother breathing room to really react to the proposal, rather than be constrained by the presence of a stranger. … the stranger that would be taking her daughter away, at that. She spent the time lounging in the grass outside, conserving energy so that the crystal might recover fully in time and wondering what travelling with two more people would do to the crystal's expenditure.

How much would they choose to bring with them? Serenity wondered such thoughts idly, watching clouds drift by overhead. What would she have brought with her, had she known of this journey ahead of time? … not much, honestly. Well, perhaps clothing for herself and her daughter. The charm bracelet they said had been her mother's. The necklace Hyperion had given her. … Hyperion. Comfortingly she placed a hand across her abdomen, letting the thought pass through.

Artemis got back first, and they sat in the kitchen together with cups of tea, discussing what had gone on as Luna came in, looking a little flustered.

The white-haired Mauan stood with a smile and led her to a seat on the table. She sat unceremoniously, taking a warm cup of steaming tea from Serenity and drinking deeply from it. "So," Artemis drawled, taking his seat, "how's your mother?"

Luna's eyebrows furrowed, one eye twitching as she pointedly finished the entire cup of tea and firmly placed it back on the table. "She's coming over for dinner," Luna responded in an annoyed fashion.

Artemis chuckled, "Took the news that well, eh?" he teased, pouring her another drink and passing her one of the plates of cookies that were still stacked throughout the kitchen.

Luna grabbed the largest cookie from the bunch and bit in, placing an elbow on the table and resting her chin in her hand as she chewed unhappily.

"Really, though, how did it go?"

Luna sighed, taking another bite of cookie before she began. "She was of two minds. I spun it as a wonderful opportunity, a way to become a noted member of society – the ambassador to a newly created civilization, tens of light years away, giving back to a community with my impressive skills that she had so engrained in me since I was but a child. It was really all of her doing, this need of mine to stand above all others and take on the most challenging test one could come up with. You know, buttering her up with catch phrases she likes to hear."

Artemis smiled.

"And, while she was oh-so-proud of me and my initiative and envied me for the opportunity to have such a hand in creating something so amazing," Luna sighed, "she doesn't want me to go off with someone I had only met a few days ago, even if that someone is a senshi. … who is pregnant, and in need of my services in that regard, as well." Luna turned her light-blue gaze on Serenity then with an apologetic smile, "Sorry for making it sound so business-like. My mother's an executive, and if there's one thing she loves to hear it is that her children are seeking the highest of respects and making the most of their potential."

"Yeah, don't feel bad about it," Artemis commented with a wink, "the only reason she gave me her blessing to pursue Luna was my notoriety in my field."

"I see," Serenity replied, "so, when she comes over for dinner…"

"Business-like, if you could." Luna replied, still looking apologetic.

She smiled, "Okay. I could use the practice, I guess, if I am supposed to become a Queen." Mentally she reviewed the behavior of Eos's mother in public functions of great esteem: calm, authoritative, decisive. She could do that.

Hours later, with dinner cooking and the table set, there came a knock at the door. Serenity, dressed in a cute-yet-impressive ensemble of Luna's choosing, stood with Luna as Artemis answered the call. The door opened to reveal a tall, middle-aged woman with long wavy black hair, strands braided together in intricate patterns that mimicked some of the stitching on the skirt of her knee-length grey dress. Her eyes were a sharp light blue, her expression belied intelligence and confidence. Serenity stood taller reflexively mimicking the aura the woman gave off.

"Good evening, Bellatrix," Artemis greeted with a smile.

The woman nodded, "Nice to see you, Artemis. Congratulations on your most recent endeavor – I hear it has been quite crucial in solving the mystery surrounding the Encretu ruins."

"Thank you very much," Artemis replied with a nod of his head. "As of yet the scholarly papers have yet to be written about the find, but I do have etchings available if you would care to peruse them. Won't you come in?"

"Please," Bellatrix replied, stepping smartly through the door. She turned her attention then on Serenity, her sharp eyes flickering from Serenity's hairstyle to Luna's in recognition. "Good evening, daughter."

Luna dipped her head in greeting, "Evening mother, I hope the night finds you well." Standing slightly to the side, Luna use one hand to motion to Serenity, "Mother, this is Serenity, Sailor Theia, and future Queen of her realm."

The tall woman nodded her head and Serenity returned the gesture. "A pleasure," Bellatrix greeted.

"Likewise," Serenity returned.

The night passed rather stiffly, Bellatrix inquiring about different aspects of Luna and Artemis's careers, occasionally asking something inconsequential of Serenity, but while she seemed to be interested in every-day topics, Serenity felt her scrutiny at almost all points during their conversation and on through dinner. She was being weighed and measured, that much she knew for certain. Luna had divulged earlier that Bellatrix was a rather important person about town, serving on various committees and holding a high position within one of the organizations in the city, so it was only natural that she could read people like a book. Suspecting as much, Serenity tried to appear as regal and as in-control as possible.

After dinner, the interrogation began. It started with a simple affirmation:

"So, Serenity, you have elected my daughter and her betrothed to serve as co-ambassadors of Mau. What would their positions entail?"

Serenity thought quickly, "I admire your society greatly, and as ambassadors they would be able to spread some of the culture of Mau to my new kingdom." She paused, not quite knowing what else to say on the matter. "However, as the site I have in mind is so far away, they would not be performing the typical ambassadorial duties. In fact, what I have in mind for them goes far beyond the role of peace-keeper. During the days I have spent here on Mau, with them, I have come to honestly value their opinions and have placed my trust in them completely; I feel I can rely on them for anything, so, rather than mere ambassadors, I intend for them to be my personal advisors." As Bellatrix's eyebrows cocked in interest, Serenity added, "Their rank would be second only to mine, and once we have everything set up, they shall want for nothing."

The black-haired, determined looking woman smiled.

The remainder of the conversation turned from impromptu interview and job negotiations to a rather informative talk on setting up a new company, and how it could compare in some small part to what Serenity intended. Once, during the impassioned address about things Serenity would need to consider and Bellatrix's opinion on the timeline of things, the woman turned and gave her daughter a warm, proud look, stating that her daughter could handle any situation thrown at her; that she had intended for Luna to take over the family business for her, for she was a very intelligent and remarkable young woman that Bellatrix had a high regard for, despite anything said to the contrary. Luna looked so shocked at hearing the admission, the straightforward compliment from her mother, a woman she had earlier deemed 'impossible to please,' that the girl started to tear up, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips. In seconds she excused herself to prepare coffee and dessert, Artemis soon joining her in the kitchen.

From that point forward the atmosphere relaxed drastically. Over small slices of cake and a selection of cookies and coffee, Bellatrix continued to give very useful advice and other thoughts for consideration, all three of the others giving their input. Very soon a rather detailed list was created by the four of them.

The night ended late for all of them. As Bellatrix stood to leave she requested a few of the treats to take back with her for Bell and Bell's family, who would only be too delighted to have them. At once, Artemis and Luna left the room to comply, and then Bellatrix turned her sharp blue eyes to Serenity and took her hands.

"Serenity, you are still growing yourself, and yet you already have so much thrown upon you. A child alone would be a great challenge, and atop that you have set yourself the task of creating something new, a whole world for your daughter to grow and flourish in. I promise you, the two you have chosen, Artemis and my Luna, are the best choices you could ever hope to make in this matter. They will help you when they can, will cause you to rise when you falter, be at your back and by your side to support you and to work as your own two hands. But, please," Bellatrix squeezed her hands gently, glancing down to Serenity's fingers and then looking her in the eye once more, the woman's eyes watering, her face suddenly filled with emotion, "Senshi, protect them. Keep them safe for me."

A mother's wish.

…the very same Serenity had for her own daughter.

"They are still so young," Bellatrix continued, her voice soft but filled with impending loss, of helplessness that the strong woman was unable to contain. In the background she heard laughter as the couple worked together in the kitchen, oblivious to their conversation.

"Bellatrix," she empathetically addressed, holding the older woman's hands softly as she vowed, "I promise you, from one mother to another, I will do my very best protect them."

Luna's mother pulled Serenity into a hard embrace, holding her in a mixture of thankfulness and as if she were attempting to feel some of the senshi's strength. Serenity returned the hug, holding the woman for the few moments until she pulled away, just before Luna and Artemis entered.

Bellatrix left soon after, hugging Luna softly and promising to visit again tomorrow to help take care of official business, and would be there to see them off when they left and would bring Luna's sisters and their families along.

They all retired after she left, as soon as they cleaned up a bit and Luna remarked upon how well it all went, and that Serenity was perfect. Artemis reflected upon what she had said about her thinking of them as advisors; that it was touching, and that he hoped to live up to her expectations.

As Serenity prepared for bed, placing the crystal on the beside atop the carefully constructed list, her mind recalled the look in Bellatrix's face, the plea in her voice, and the immense look of relief. The entire scene seemed to etch itself in her mind, a new batch of memories from her time on Mau, tucked away as surely as the memory of Artemis carrying a struggling Luna through the quiet library. She climbed into bed, turned the light off, and went to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Their final days on Mau passed in a blur of activity juxtaposed with long stretches of nothing.

The morning after the dinner with Luna's mother, Bellatrix sent officials over with paperwork for the both of them – transfers of assets to their families, account closing forms, etc., - everything on the business side of their move was handled all in one morning. That afternoon the both of them went to work, explaining the situations to their respective bosses and coworkers and promising to attend farewell parties; that evening they chose to picnic in the park again, staying out once more far into the night, bathing in the light of the twin moons. As Luna and Artemis sat together, hand in hand, looking over the green grasslands of their home as if memorizing every hill and tree, Serenity stared skyward. Even though her new home – _their_ new home – wouldn't rise for hours, she couldn't help the chill of excitement that ran through her at the thought of departure, of getting closer and closer to that one place that held their future.

The next day, the last before they were to leave, was a patchwork of duties – of choosing what to bring, what to leave, whom to bequeath with what; of attending 'surprise' going away parties at both the offices Luna worked in and at the museum, which had been filled with balloons from floor to ceiling; then more packing as they whittled down their collections to what they thought they truly needed. They ended the afternoon with tea and cakes in Luna's living room.

"Back where it all began, eh?" Artemis cheerfully stated, sipping from his cup.

That night they made rounds to their families, Serenity invited along as they both knew their families would want to meet her and they hated the thought of leaving her alone. The visit with Artemis's brother, Temar, and his brother's wife, Cheiri, was filled with much good-natured teasing, his straightforward sibling unable to resist ribbing his younger brother even as he confessed how much he would miss him. They managed to pull the couple along with them when they left for Luna's sister's house.

Bell, Luna's eldest sister, resembled their mother but lacked the standoffish air. She invited the whole family over to introduce the two new members of their clan as they said farewell to Luna and Artemis. Her new children, a fraternal pair named after two book characters, were darling, tiny little things that Serenity felt drawn to immediately, despite her lack of experience with children under schooling age. It was a nervous feeling, a feeling like she didn't quite trust herself around them, yet at the same time she couldn't stay away.

Bell's husband, an honest yet mischievous man, had his hands full with their first set of twins – three-year-old identical boys set upon gaining whatever attention they could, be it good or bad, from the visitors. They were cute and dressed identically but for the color of their outfits, and whenever Serenity turned around they were getting into some trouble, their father or Luna not too far behind, attempting to keep them in sight.

Not long after they arrived, Luna's second sister, Deneb, and her husband joined them, leading in their own two-year-old daughter, Aresis. The green-haired toddler took one look at Artemis and immediately squealed a giggle and dashed behind her father's legs. Artemis pretended he didn't see her and went on with his conversation with Bell, though his eyes strayed to the little girl that crept sneakily over to him. Quietly she snuck, her little feet silent until she reached up and grabbed at Artemis's pant legs. Then she giggled in a high pitch as she ran away, Artemis giving chase as they played what appeared to be an old favorite.

Both of Luna's sisters pulled Serenity aside several times during the party, but rather than talk about Luna and the future, they instead quizzed her about her pregnancy, seeing how it was going and comparing it with their own. They were constantly handing their children over to her, especially after she admitted to not having much experience with toddlers and younger babies. Despite initial fears about handling such tiny, fragile little things, Serenity soon fell in love with the little dears and the tight connection they had with the adults in their lives.

It was only when Artemis caught the young Aresis that things suddenly snapped into reality for Serenity. The moment Artemis's hands encircled the baby girl's waist, her gleeful cries reaching their peak, there were two simultaneous puffs of unexplainable green smoke. When the quickly dissipating fog cleared, Artemis held the small girl in outstretched hands, cheering for himself at how clever he was to catch her, and she… she had a tail. A long, thin green tail that curled and twisted as the cat-eared child giggled.

They really could turn into cats.

There was another poofing sound from behind and Serenity turned to catch Luna scolding one of the twins. Where was - ? Bell rushed forward and picked up a small blue bundle from the floor and returned, softly caressing a tiny kitten whose hair stood on end, his poor yellow eyes dilated in fear as he shook uncontrollably.

"Pollux!" she admonished, "How many times have I told you to leave your brother alone?"

The blue-haired little boy looked mutinously up at his mother from beside Luna, but said nothing. Luna, for her part, looked slyly down at him from out of the corners of her eyes and nudged him with her knee. His attention gained, she pointed towards the kitchen and they left.

"Is Castor alright?" Deneb asked. Artemis came over with the eared- and tailed-Aresis, who peered down over his shoulder with much interest at what her 'auntie' held.

"Oh, he's fine," Bell assured, petting the kitten reassuringly. As one of the babies cried, Bell's husband came over and carefully took his son, _the kitten_ in hand and took him into the kitchen. They were followed by Artemis's and his brother, as Bell scooped the crying infant into her arms and turned thoughtfully upon Serenity.

It was then that Bell and Dene struck, double-teaming both Serenity and Artemis's brother's expecting wife, Cheiri, with basic child-care questions. When Serenity revealed her lack of experience, the fussy baby was thrust into her arms nonchalantly – "I've got plenty to practice with," Bell laughed, scooping the little boy out of his crib to hand over to Cheiri. "Now, when they're crying like that," she started, talking loud enough to be heard over their chorus of wails, "you want to make them feel secure – hold them a little closer, there you go. Now try bouncing them, just a little."

"Or try a gentle rocking motion – they also like that." Deneb broke in helpfully.

It continued like that all night – the boys getting into mischief, Luna's sisters constantly giving advice and pop-quizzes about baby basics, Luna and Artemis having a great time with their family. They left feeling happy and tired, falling asleep almost immediately upon returning to their homes, Artemis and Luna both wishing to spend their last night in the house they had created for themselves.

...

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sailor Theia asked softly, standing close to Luna as her friend's wavy purple hair brushed her bare arm when the gentle breeze of the warm morning teased the tresses. They stood at the end of Luna's walkway, staring at her little house with its manicured gardens and cheery disposition, awaiting the official carriage that came from the palace to collect them. In the end, Luna had elected not to bring too many items – one small suitcase fit the entirely of the possessions she chose to take with her. She wore her favorite gown, a piece of art that accented her coloration and lent her an air of mystery. She brought no other attire; explaining that the gown was made of durable material and musing that there were bound to be seamstresses on the life-holding planet of their new system.

Luna took a deep breath, hearing the carriage approaching. "Serenity," she said quietly, a smile in her voice, "We're with you."

They met Artemis at the castle. He carried no bag with him, shrugging at the questioning gaze and smiling, "We're starting over." He, too, decided to bring only one outfit: a white suit, the top of which had a design cut into it that fastened to the pants with belts. He looked dashing, just as Luna looked ethereal in her be-flowered black and soft-yellow gown. The two of them held hands, Artemis taking Luna's bag for her as they smiled encouragingly at Sailor Theia, Luna motioning her forward.

Taking a deep breath, one hand firmly on her staff, Serenity strode forward into the audience chamber, her two companions following three steps behind. The King, Queen and Sailor Mau headed the hearing, asking again questions of their plans and the new tie between their two kingdoms. Serenity answered as professionally and honestly as she could, noting again that a starting kingdom would not be much help to their planet, but they would be a strong ally in spirit. In the audience were Luna and Artemis's families, their coworkers, and curious members of the community, each listening intently. When finally the hearing was over, Sailor Mau led Sailor Theia, Luna, Artemis, and their immediate families to the uppermost tower to make their leave of the planet.

With hugs and well-wishes, the families bid them goodbye. Finally, it was time to leave. The crystal was thrumming with new power, practically singing in anticipation. It was all too easy to reach into it, bringing forth the force necessary to lift them all into the sky. She heard Luna gasp as they left the ground, Artemis's short laugh of incredulity barely audible above the intake of breath of the gathered crowd. They rose slowly, Serenity giving them as much time as possible for them to view their planet for the last time. As the oxygen grew scarce, she summoned more energy and gave Luna and Artemis the necessary modifications for space travel.

When the castle was barely a blur far below them, Luna took Serenity's hand, Artemis took Luna's, and Sailor Theia charged forward, breaking through the atmosphere in a blazing blur of power. The wind rushed past them, howling and thundering in their ears until, suddenly, all sound stopped. Weightlessness overcame them as the vast dark of space appeared suddenly before them. Luna squeezed Sailor Theia's hand, unable to communicate verbally but her eyes saying all. Theia squeezed back, smiling at Luna's awestruck features before looking to Artemis for directions. He, too, looked to be enjoying himself, but sensing her intention, he closed his eyes for a moment, then pointed.

With a heading, Sailor Theia focused and the three shot off, heading through space for their new home…

_Author's Note: _ _Hello everyone! I'd like to apologize for how long it's been since the last update; a lot has happened since then, but I hope you will still keep up with Serenity's Story! I have a few more surprises on the way before the Princess is born, including the appearance of some familiar faces. Thanks for reading!_


	14. Chapter 14

Her journey changed.

Where, before, traveling past the white dwarfs, the supergiant reds and blues, the ejecting black holes and their like was a quiet, introspective loneliness, a passionless study of stellar beauty, now she felt like she was part of the art – a tour guide of space. At every new experience, every nebula and star field, she felt her hand squeezed and saw Luna's excited face, or Artemis's awe-struck expression, and, each and every time, her heart swelled. She wasn't alone anymore.

With the crystal responsible for four now, instead of just two, they made rather frequent stops on habitable planets at least once every 340 hours to recharge. These stops lasted three days; after their first, it was quickly decided that Artemis would find a secluded space for them to rest, rather than chance the cities. The animals differed on each planet, but they could be fairly certain how to handle those as opposed to the strange monetary and cultural systems of the dominant species. Artemis proved himself invaluable; he could feel out the best camping spots, where to find food and shelter - occasionally he chanced unused cabins or way stations. He used skills he learned while working at digs and cites out in the wilderness and drew from those experiences. Their time on planets, recharging and talking, were pleasant, but whenever they left it was a happy occasion. Though they would go for weeks without speaking, the joy and freedom afforded through stellar travel and the promise of their new home was alluring.

Her daughter, as she had suspected, grew ever more active as they went; the crystal choosing to give her growth spurts during which only the sweetest of fresh fruit would anywhere near satiate the cravings sent Serenity's way. She would kick as a reminder for food at every landing – a quirk Serenity learned to remember when aiming for the position Artemis pointed out. With every waking moment, Serenity felt closer and closer to the little one growing inside of her.

And, occasionally when she slept, she met _him_ again: Hyperion. Every time it was the same; they were in the forest of Okeanos, but the stars above were alien. They would talk to each other, laugh and share secrets, just like old times… and then she would wake up and find she had been sleeping for nearly eighteen hours. Afterwards she always felt refreshed, the crystal glowing happily, and while Luna voiced her concern at being unable to wake her during those time periods, they eventually wrote the long stretches of sleep off as being a regenerative period.

So was the norm for nearly five months of travel. As they approached their star system, the faint pinprick of light growing steadily, their excitement and anticipation grew right along with it…

Sailor Theia braced herself, waiting for the nudge as she followed Artemis's outstretched finger, descending through the atmosphere using her staff to break the airflow in front of them. It came and went and she smiled teasingly as she got the better of it, mentally telling her child that food was coming as she led them down to a secluded area of Artemis's choosing. As they broke through the cloud layer she couldn't help but glance over to the high-standing city east of their future encampment; the structures were tall, metallic, and beautifully crafted, as though a giant-sized artist had left their work to be used as houses; but the city wasn't for them. Any place with buildings that gorgeous was bound to live by a code of currency, which the three of them lacked.

She slowed as they entered through a break in the trees, letting go of Luna's hand as she directed the power to lower them slowly to the ground. Once their feet touched the soft grass, it was off to their normal 'landing chores'; this was their tenth stop, so everything was routine. Before sunset they had a shelter built, a fire blazing and food in their stomachs. Nighttime came, stars appearing in the darkness subtly, but Serenity was already in a dreamless slumber. Things were progressing normally; they should only need to stop four more times before they were there…

They awoke the next day and were just getting around to morning business of discussing the world they were to create when there was an audible _snap_ from the forest behind Artemis's back, and the two Mauans jumped to their feet. Serenity, unable to get up so quickly nowadays, remained seated, but summoned her staff. It was a strange phenomena, being able to summon her senshi items without the need of transforming, but with her sailor crystal in her lap she supposed the power came from it even when she wasn't actively channeling the power of Theia. Either way, it was a useful talent to have.

"Who's there?" Artemis challenged boldly. They were not armed.

"Oh, now you've done it!"

"Me? And who _pushed_ me?"

"Are you suggesting _I_ did?" the first voice demanded, "Because if you are we need to check your head!"

"_My_ head?" the second voice exclaimed as the underbrush of the forest crackled, the two making their way closer. "If anything we need to check _yours_! If you can't remember your acts of _clumsiness_ there's no telling what else you've forgotten!"

"Oh, shush. You're making a scene."

"Are you kidding me?" two figures were visible now, but their features were still obscured by the shadows of the morning sun. "I'm taking that as an apology," the figure on the left stated as the two of them broke into the sunlight. Two young women, identical from the tips of their heads to the toes on their feet, joined them in their little campsite. They were tall, fit and beautiful, with long black hair, segments of which done up in twin flat buns on either side of their head that effectively covered their ears. They wore white lab coats that stretched down to their calves, but on their feet were impractical high heeled shoes, tied prettily with ribbons that stretched up past their ankles.

Serenity used her staff to pull herself to her feet as the two stepped fully into the clearing, Artemis and Luna stepping back to give them room, as well as inch closer to Serenity in a protective manner. The silver-haired senshi's heart swelled with tenderness at their protective display and she couldn't help but smile. Two civilians protecting a senshi? But then they had never seen her in action… hopefully, it would stay that way.

"Sorry to disturb you," the one on the right said.

"But you did kind of crash-land here yesterday," the other continued.

"And we were just curious,"

"As to why." The two smiled as one. The one on the left extended her hand to Luna, "I'm Phobos."

The one on the right extended a hand to Artemis, "And I'm Deimos."

They continued in unison, "And we're Creators."

Luna and Artemis shook their hands tentatively, shooting each other a glance that Serenity read to be one of disbelief or skepticism. Serenity smiled and walked forward, offering her own hand. "I am Serenity, or Sailor Theia. These are my trusted advisors and friends, Luna and Artemis." The twins took turns shaking her hand, smiling brightly.

"I told you I knew she was a senshi," Phobos said, directing the comment to Deimos.

"No, you _suspected_ she was a senshi," Deimos corrected, her eyes still on Serenity as she spoke to her sister, "and then you elbowed me."

Phobos cleared her throat, "Well that doesn't really matter now, does it?"

Deimos did likewise. "True. So, what brings you to Coronis, Serenity, Luna and Artemis?"

"Don't worry, we're not policemen," Phobos assured.

"Just scientists," Deimos qualified.

"Didn't you just say you were 'Creators'?" Artemis asked.

"We are," they said as one.

"A creator is a type of scientist," Deimos explained.

"We manipulate the world through our instruments to create things."

"Buildings, specifically."

"So…" Luna started quietly and slowly, giving the three a well-needed break from the constant back-and-forth from the twins, "You are scientists, architects and builders?" The way she phrased the question, the intonation in her voice, her body language – through these clues Serenity immediately knew what Luna was thinking. When planning for their new kingdom, a roadblock that constantly surfaced was its initial creation. Their capital building, their first home. The Cauldron said she had to settle on a previously uninhabited planet; resources would be slim, including people and supplies of all kinds. The strategies these two, or others like them, employed could be the solution.

"Yes; so long as the materials are there,"

"We can build it!"

"Would you like to see?"

"Yes," Luna replied immediately, a determined look about her.

"Luna," Artemis breathed warningly, not altogether comfortable with the idea of their going with these two anywhere.

"You're not comfortable with this, right?" Deimos asked.

"We can sense these things," Phobos revealed, "Just a touch of ESP, you know?"

"You don't need to worry; we'll take care of you."

With that, the two pulled a long metal tube out of the large pocket of their coats and snapped it out beside them. It unfurled to become a metallic device consisting of three main parts: horizontal handles, a horizontal platform, and a vertical bar that connected the two. As one, the two jumped on their respective platforms and it started to float slightly off the ground.

"These are scooters," Deimos explained at their curious faces.

"We didn't design them, but we know who did," Phobos continued.

"We thought the two of you," Deimos motioned to Luna and Artemis, "could jump on behind us."

"Because we assumed those wings were functional," Phobos continued, addressing Serenity.

Serenity nodded her head; she was still tired, but she felt Luna's idea was important to follow through with. If this planet had invented a quick and easy construction method, it was well worth looking into. Luna gingerly stepped on the scooter behind Phobos, Artemis, a little more hesitantly, joined Deimos. The twins directed the Mauans to hold on, and both shot forward. They found a path, Serenity flying behind and keeping up with the quick moving scooters as they made their way through the forest, towards the towers of the metallic city.

…

They passed towering structures, winding, curving, impossible in their design, all fitting tightly in with one another as if fighting for the best lighting, the nicest space. Twisting and turning through the crowded streets overfilling with windows displaying impossible items, curiosities of metal and light that they couldn't hope to identify. The twins gained a lot of attention as they went as apparently random people waved at them, calling their names enthusiastically despite the look of confusion at spying Serenity. At one point, she was sure she heard a child cry, "Mummy! I want a pair of wings like that! Who do you think designed them?" But as they neared the center of the city, the buildings even more impossibly tall, the twins instructed for Luna and Artemis to jump off as they collapsed their hovering scooters and stored them simultaneously as they broke into a brisk walk for the nearest building.

They followed the two through a maze of incredible technology, items blinking in multiple colors and beeping all around them. They passed through several rooms, under a metallic arch with guards posted on either side, and down a long hallway into a box that moved them to higher parts of the tall building. Throughout the entire journey, the twins spoke back and forth to the other Coronids around them, teasing and directing interchangeably. When the four of them were alone in the 'elevator,' the two attempted to ask them again what they were doing on their planet, but Luna was easily able to turn their attention back on themselves, back on their jobs and their passion: Creating.

When the elevator finally stopped, Serenity, Luna, and Artemis finally got to see what they meant.

The two led them through a lobby and into an expansive space, empty but for a small, dirt-filled box in the center of the room. There were drawings on the walls, intricate illustrations of fantastic buildings, and the window that filled one wall showed them how far above the ground they were. In the far corner of the room stood a technician who, when they entered, snapped to attention and dashed over to meet them.

"Miss Phobos! Miss Deimos! I'm glad you have returned! I refilled the materials den for whenever you're ready," she greeted cheerfully.

"Thank you, Miranda," Phobos dismissively commented, smiling as she quickly approached the circular box filled with dirt.

"Ditto, Miranda," Deimos seconded, "we're going to be modeling; don't let anyone else in until we finish, right?"

"Yes! Of course!" Miranda snapped to attention, then dashed out into the foyer, closing the door behind her.

"Ready to go?" Phobos asked, extending her hand towards Deimos.

Deimos took her hand and looked back to the guests, "Just stand back and watch. Ready!"

The two girls closed their eyes and the energy of the room changed around them. Serenity watched intently as the energy rushed out of the two, reaching into the dirt box as their hair started to float around them, their lab coats wavering with the slew of anti-gravity spiraling around the pair… and, suddenly, a steady stream of material rose from the box, spiraling into the air. The twins' outer hands rose and began twisting, as if designing or molding clay, and the material followed each and every twist and turn. They were using some sort of inner power to pull material out of the box and shaping it to their will! Minutes later, floating suspended nearly ten feet above the box, was a miniature castle, beautiful, striking, and incredibly precise.

The two girls opened their eyes together, gravity suddenly returning. Phobos grabbed the small model as it fell, turning it over in her hands in an inspection. "Marvelous," she stated, handing it to Deimos, who glanced at it once before giving it to Luna.

"It's only a small sample of what we can do," she commented.

"But right now it's all we can do," Phobos continued, "the city's filled to the brim already; there isn't any work to display our art."

"You mean…" Luna started, staring at the little building and then at the tall structure just outside the large window, "The buildings outside…?"

"All created using the natural elements found in Coronis." Phobos declared proudly.

"Three of them are ours; we won the design contest held by three of the most influential families," Deimos continued.

"You mean you can create entire buildings by pulling elements right out of the planet?" Artemis asked, examining the model as Luna handed it over to him.

They nodded. "Not many have the skill, but we do."

"It might have been that spiritual training with Sailor Coronis we did growing up," Deimos mused.

Serenity had never heard of that before… training and meditating with a senshi awakening inner powers? It was a strange concept, but could it be possible? Perhaps they had learned to tap into the inner potential of their star seed… and learned to apply that power to the world around them…? There was no device then, no technology that they could ask for. It would have to be a Creator him- or herself that they would somehow need to convince to come with them.

"What would you say if we offered you an opportunity to create as many buildings as you'd like, with as much space and as many materials as you need?" Luna asked suddenly, cutting to the chase with any hesitation, her bright blue eyes determined.

"Luna –" Artemis cautioned, but she continued anyway.

"You would have complete artistic license without any competition," she completed.

Serenity smiled, giving Luna her whole support. She liked this quality – no nonsense, straight to the point. And the Coronid twins seemed to like it, too. They surveyed them now, each twin checking them up and down, closing in on Artemis, who seemed the most nervous, as they thought through the offer.

"And just where would we be creating these buildings?" one of them asked (she had lost track during the circling).

"And there's the hitch," Artemis breathed, giving in to the idea, "another planetary system altogether."

"Really?" the other asked.

"Yes," Serenity confirmed, "I am Serenity, future Queen a small planet in a system about 20 light years away from here. Being new to the system, I find myself in need of your unique design and creating skills." Thinking quickly, she outlined what they would need, "We are in need of a capital building, a palace for myself, my advisors, and my court, of which you two would be honored members. We would also need palaces created for other planets within the system," she decided; each senshi should have a palace of their own to call home, on the planet they were connected to. "The challenge is that, as of right now, those planets are completely uninhabitable."

"Hmm… challenging."

"Ambitious"

"Exclusive"

"Intriguing" the two paused and looked at each other.

"Think of the possibilities!" they said as one, and then turned to Serenity, "We're in!"


	15. Chapter 15

The twins both reached forward and shook each of Serenity's hands as if sealing the deal, their faces smiling determinedly, and Serenity felt at ease. As they released their grips and turned back towards the window, their attentions on each other as they discussed something between themselves, she leaned on her staff and followed them with silver eyes. These two were energetic and hard to keep up with, their near-constant finishing of each other's sentences keeping her on her toes, which made her believe that they would be an excellent fit. Their drive would propel them through the staggering projects ahead of them and their camaraderie and competitiveness towards each other would keep them happy and satisfied. Later she would ask again, explaining fully what their agreeing to come with her would mean; specifically, the possibility that they might never return to Coronis. In all fairness, she should tell them right now, but she was suddenly feeling worn down, her back aching from standing for so long.

Before she could make the request herself, Luna came to her rescue yet again. "Excuse me," she asked, gaining the twins' attention, "Is there a place where Serenity might rest?"

"Of course!" One supplied happily.

"We weren't even thinking, how silly of us! In her condition we should have offered her a seat immediately!"

"But instead of a seat…"

"When will we be leaving for the system?"

"A few days," Artemis supplied, "Just enough time to rest and recover, if you two would be ready by then?"

"We'd be ready to leave _now_ if necessary!" one laughed.

"But as it will be a few days, would you three like to stay with us in the city? Our complex isn't too far away and we would love to have you."

"It's much lovelier than that camp site. No offense."

Luna and Artemis looked back at her for the decision, and honestly Serenity couldn't have been happier to accept the offering. A real bed! There was a chance for a real bed! And a bath of some sort – even though she wasn't particularly dirty, bathing was so relaxing in and of itself. But she held in her enthusiasm, forcefully reminding herself that she would be a Queen someday soon, and so needed to start acting like one. "Thank you for your invitation; that would be wonderful."

"Great!" they said together.

And then they were off again, Serenity and her friends in tow as they followed the pair back through the lobbies, the descending room, the hallways and the crowd. They pulled their scooters out of their pockets and Luna and Artemis got on again, the twins laughing that they had swapped passengers as Serenity flew behind them through the streets. Again people started waving at the pair enthusiastically as they meandered through the city, finally stopping at another tall and beautiful building. Once all feet were safely back on the ground, the pair approached the entryway, thanking a man who opened the door for them all to pass. Once inside this building they moved again to a small room and felt the sensation of gravity as they moved up, through the floors towards a higher story.

"Home, sweet home!" One declared as the doors opened to reveal a posh living space filled with low-lying, curvy furniture. Brightly colored photographed books lay around the room on small tables and large counters, the kitchen sparkling and metallic. Serenity was awed by how the room seemed as filled with technology as the streets had; the culture here seemed rather advanced, nearly everything apparently run with electricity.

"You can use one of the guest rooms, Future-Queen Serenity; just pick any door down that hallway, and feel free to use the shower in the conjoined bathroom if you'd like! Fresh towels should be readily available."

"And if not, Nike will hear of it!" joked the other twin, possibly referencing a servant.

Serenity smiled, "Thank you."

She turned and started down the hallway, choosing a door at random that they had pointed out. As she entered the room and turned to close the door behind her, she was surprised to see Luna right on her heels. Jumping back a bit, her left wing brushing against a tall dresser beside her, Serenity caught her breath, laughing at being frightened so easily. "Hi, Luna."

"Sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you," the pale girl smiled, "I just wanted to tell you that we'll explain everything to them for you – what their choice means as far as returning here, what our plans are for the Kingdom, anything about Mau that they might want to know. But I wondered – if they ask, how much would you like us to tell them about you? Your past, the Galaxy Cauldron's gift? What about your plans for the senshi of the new system?"

Serenity's relief at Luna's words took a thoughtful turn, "Perhaps…" but then she thought better of directly instructing. Luna's sound judgment would do well on its own. "Tell them what you think would be best. Maybe the abridged version over the full, though, right?" she smiled.

Luna nodded, "Sleep well, Serenity."

"Thank you, Luna."

The door closed behind her as the Mauan left, and for the first time in ages, Serenity found herself surrounded by luxuries impossible to their camp-and-fly lifestyle. First on her to-do list: take a shower.

Hours later, after a peaceful nap on the plush bed offered to her, Serenity emerged from the guest bedroom and joined the quartet in the living room, taking a heavy seat in an armchair beside Artemis's perch on the couch.

"Feeling better?" one of the twins asked. They still looked completely identical, their lab coats covering any possibility of clothing that would enable her to tell the two apart. She nodded with a smile to the question.

"Great! We could do dinner soon, then," the other enthused. "What are you in the mood for? Or is the baby craving something? Maybe sweets?" Their twin smiles were teasing; Artemis's look of innocence, guilty.

"Whatever available would be lovely," she started, but, as if beckoned, her young daughter moved around inside her. "And something sweet would be appreciated," she amended.

"Great!" the two stood together in a fluid motion and left the open living room for the kitchen area, still in view over the sleek countertops. They opened the refrigerator and started debating with one another.

"We told them everything," Luna addressed, "what our intentions are, about awakening new senshi – they guessed the castles would be for them and I assumed that was your intention?" Serenity nodded; Luna continued, "and that you would not be able to return them to Coronis when they finished with their work."

Serenity nodded again, glancing back at the two raven-haired girls in the kitchen who now looked at a small device in the wall, continuing their verbal debate. So much now rested with them; if they chose not to come, she would have to find another creator and hope he or she would agree, else face the task of building on other planets without their help. … and without at least one building on or around the planet, she wondered if even the power of her crystal would be able to coax out the dormant sailor crystals within. With these thoughts heavy on her mind, she turned her attention back to Luna and asked candidly, "Are they still coming?"

Luna and Artemis smiled, "Yes."

"They said that if they wanted to come back to Coronis, they would just create a vessel that would bring them back," Artemis added with amusement.

Could they do that? Serenity wondered, looking at them once more. How… amazing that would be; it would enable such easy transport between –

"Darlings!" The door to the room burst open suddenly, emitting a large man in an official-looking suit into the room. A smaller man, thin and pencil-like, followed him in carrying a flat device with something that looked like a writing utensil. The second man appeared snooty, perhaps even timid, while the first seemed anything but.

"Erebus!" The two exclaimed and whipped around the counter to stand front-and-center before him.

"Uhg, but who are these _drab_ looking individuals?" the pencil man asked haughtily, looking at the two and winking almost imperceptibly.

The twins suddenly stood even taller, looking incredibly graceful as they both grabbed the front of their own coat and pulled forcefully to one side. With a flourish, the lab coats were flung away from them revealing the outfit beneath. Each girl wore a sleeveless, turtle-necked leotard, one in red, the other in purple, and other than their shoes, that was absolutely it. The leotards were accented by two sets of sheer bows – one between their shoulder blades, one at the small of their backs – and a black six-pointed star, skewed downward, sat at their upper chests. The outfits complimented their bodies, from their larger busts and amazing hips to their tiny waists; it was as though the clothing was designed for them in particular. With their high heeled shoes with ribbon laces, the two appeared as dancers. … very beautiful, completely identical, dancers.

"Phobos!" the twin in red cried out with a pose, one hand at her waist, the other over her head.

"Deimos!" the twin in purple posed with the opposite hand on her waist and her other arm stretched out to the side.

The pencil-man smiled smugly, "Now _there_ are my fabulous models."

"Are we ready for the show tomorrow?" the man they assumed was Erebus asked, his booming voice jovial and genuinely happy.

"Oh, definitely, Uncle!" Phobos assured, she and Deimos slipping into another pose together.

"But you had better start making new advertisements for it!" Deimos added, teasingly.

Erebus took the bait, "And why is that, my lovely nieces?"

"You'd bring in much more profit if you announced beforehand that tomorrow will be our final show!" Phobos explained mischievously.

"Final show?" he repeated, as if not quite understanding the meaning of the words.

Serenity looked to Luna and Artemis in mild astonishment – _this_ was how they choose to tell their friends and family? If his words were to be believed, that man was their uncle!

"As in the last one we will ever do."

"Our crowning appearance."

"The grand finale of Beautiful Models, Phobos and Deimos!"

"NOO!" the pencil man screamed shrilly, throwing his hands skyward and falling to his knees in over-dramatized anguish, his computer tablet and stylus flying across the room to land safely beside Luna, Artemis having pulled her back into his arms as he saw it coming. The man broke out in hysterical sobs.

"Oh, Hesiod, it's not that bad," Phobos remarked, looking annoyed and breaking the pose transition.

"You'll find others; you always do." Deimos agreed, equally annoyed.

"You're right." Hesiod declared with a sniff, righting himself sharply. He seemed no worse for wear as he stood and come directly to the couch to retrieve his writing tablet, the screen flashing green. "And I suppose you three are the reason for their premature retirement?" he asked snootily.

"How terrible of us!" Deimos declared.

"Simply dreadful!" Phobos approached Hesiod from the side as Deimos walked over to stand beside Serenity, her hand resting on the cushion behind her head. "We forgot to introduce you to our guests. Uncle Erebus, Manager Hesiod, this is her majesty Queen Serenity and her top advisors, Lady Luna and Master Artemis."

"These foreign dignitaries have traveled _lightyears_ to come to Coronis to recruit the two of us for a massive project back in their home system."

"Her majesty?" Hesiod repeated quietly, his face drained of all color.

"Your majesty," Erebus bowed deeply, "you have chosen wisely; the talents of my two nieces are incredible and diverse; pray, what projects do you have in mind for them?"

Before Serenity could answer, Phobos did. "Castles, palaces, capitols – we'll be designing marvelous, livable works of art for Herself and the other Royalty of her system."

"And outfitting them with top technology for ease of life and safety." Deimos added, a snippet that Serenity herself had not yet heard.

"Ambitious…" their uncle commented in awe, blinking.

Hesiod whimpered, "it's perfect for you! I have no chance."

"Too true. We're leaving the day after tomorrow so you have some advertising to do!" Phobos said, taking Hesiod's arm and guiding him towards the door.

In a split-second, Deimos was helping her. "Don't forget the fliers, radio announcements, television spots, changing that billboard – you've got quite a lot to do!"

The door opened and they all but threw him into the little room, smiling sweetly, "And, if you wouldn't mind, could you order some food for us?" Phobos added.

"The fridge is empty again," Deimos added. "And dessert, too! Something sweet and sticky!"

"Yes, girls," Hesiod replied dejectedly.

They stood on either side of the door and waved happily at him; he shifted slightly as Erebus joined him. "Congratulations, girls! Tomorrow's afterparty will be in your honor, and I'll make sure all of your VIP's are there."

"Thanks, Uncle!" they replied as one, "Good night!"

The doors slid together and the twins turned back to their visitors. Serenity felt like she had just witnessed a play performance. The two visitors took the news rather well, and this explained why so many in the crowd recognized the two as they traversed the city; they were super stars. The power they wielded in the populace, the happiness they had here – Serenity couldn't help but wonder aloud, "You have so much here. You create buildings, win contests with your designs, have an understanding and wonderful family, and are well known as models; are you sure you want to come with us?"

Phobos smiled, leaning on Deimos, "Our lives here are fun, that's for sure."

"But," Deimos sounded thoughtful, "we always felt like we could do better. Not success-wise, mind you; just that we could be of greater purpose elsewhere."

"This feels like a calling," Phobos concluded.

Luna and Artemis nodded as if agreeing with them.

The rest of the night was spent sharing stories, mostly between Luna, Artemis and the twins; Serenity would offer amusing tales herself, but the twins had some riotous tales that kept them laughing all night. Dinner was delivered to them and had an amazing array of choices that Serenity very much enjoyed, though the fare was foreign to her. The desserts were especially a hit. The five of them stayed up late into the night talking, but finally they retired, the twins claiming they needed their beauty sleep, but Serenity had the feeling that they had caught Luna's yawn and clued into the tired look in Artemis's eyes. She slept soundly, dreaming of Hyperion and that odd sky of alien constellations, but it was not like her usual dreams of him, more like snatches of conversation and a general feeling of both bewilderment and belonging; a true dream, rather than the others that felt like visions.

If she had been having one of those dreams, she probably would not have woken when Luna screamed.


	16. Chapter 16

Serenity's mind came to life immediately. Moving as quickly as she could managed, she put her legs over the side of the bed and stood, her fingers wrapping around the glass trunk of her staff as she steeled herself; perhaps Luna and Artemis would see just what she could do as a senshi after all. She walked to the door purposefully, thoughts of assassins flying through her head, when Luna's tone changed completely. From fright to agitated annoyance, her screams ended with a loud, "ARTEMIS, YOU IDIOT! You scared me!"

She hadn't noticed how hard her heart had been pounding in her chest until that moment. As apprehension drained from her she opened her door and found herself in the hallway with a sleepy-looking Phobos and Deimos, dressed in red and purple pajamas, respectively. Their eyebrows were quirked in annoyance, probably awakened also fearing the worst only to find out it was a prank. But there was really only one way to be sure. Serenity approached the door to Luna and Artemis's room and knocked, "Luna? Is everything okay in there?"

"Oh!" Luna exclaimed. She heard the sound of feet approaching the door and it flew open, "I'm sorry!" Luna apologized, her wavy hair flying out in all directions, "I didn't mean to scare anyone _else_," she added, shooting a glare back into the room. Artemis, topless, lay on the floor by the side of the bed as if struck.

"What happened?" Serenity asked slowly, giving Luna the chance to refuse to answer if it was a potentially embarrassing predicament. Rather than blush, however, Luna put her hands on her hips and turned back to glare full-on at Artemis.

"Why don't _you_ tell them?" she demanded of Artemis, who looked back at them without an ounce of frivolity or mischief.

"I really don't know what I did," he replied quietly, "but I'm sorry!" he spurted at the last moment, "I really didn't mean it, Luna!"

Luna looked to the ceiling and crossed her arms; the scowl on her face said she didn't believe him, but the look on Artemis's face begged to be believed.

"What happened, Luna?" Serenity tried.

Luna sighed, looking over with big blue eyes, "it's really stupid. I shouldn't have screamed, but it was just so unexpected…" She waited for her to continue. Apologetically, Luna loosened altogether, "He transformed. I woke up with cat paws on my chest, whiskers on my face and his green eyes peeking open at me; it was just unexpected – he hasn't tried that one before."

"I swear I didn't transform, Luna!" Artemis said, pulling himself to his feet, "at least… not on purpose…"

Behind her, Phobos and Deimos looked to each other and nodded. "We thought this might happen," Deimos stated slowly.

They found themselves in yet another building later that morning. The room they were in was metallic and sterile, with strange gadgets and appliances littered about the space in an organized manner. Luna and Artemis sat on tables, each with one of the twins, both bedecked in lab coats yet again. It started with a basic check of vitals and basic measurements, but as the morning wore on the tests became more elaborate. Phobos and Deimos's demeanor had changed yet again, now both were calm, level-voiced and professional as they in-evasively tested the Mauans with various instruments. For the most part Serenity just watched and listened, a little fear sneaking its way into her heart as the proceedings continued, but listening closely she learned more about the twins as they worked, using conversation as a means to keep everyone entertained and to quell worry. She learned that their mother had been a top scientist specializing in technology; their father came from a long line of actors. They grew up in a lavish apartment, learning about their parents' trades and excelling in science and engineering; they continued their studies and experimented with creating even after their uncle had gotten them into modeling. They had never wanted for anything, but, as they said yesterday, they always felt like they were to do something more.

After a time, the twins went off and conversed quickly with each other, then called Luna and Artemis over to two of the several chambers on the wall, opening the capsules up and asking them to step inside, assuring them that it wouldn't hurt a bit. The Mauans stepped inside after clasping their hands together – Serenity's heart ached, knowing that they were scared but were doing this anyway. Even after the doors closed, the pair looked into each other's eyes as lights flashed all about them. The Coronid twins sat at computer stations, talking quietly with each other and changing levels, pressing buttons and recording results. Serenity moved to sit beside them.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, watching the Mauans watch each other. "Is something wrong?"

"We think we might know…" Phobos started, but did not elaborate. They continued with their tests for nearly a quarter of the hour before turning to each other and nodding. The entire time Serenity had attempted to keep up with the conversation, but it was filled with so much scientific jargon that the only word she fully understood was "_Mau_." Deimos turned to Phobos and nodded. They typed commands into their computer and pressed one key in unison.

In the clear tubes, suddenly Luna and Artemis changed. With a small puff of smoke, they instantaneously transformed. In Luna's space now sat a pure black cat, the fur so shiny and sleek it almost seemed to be a glossy indigo when the light hit it just right. In Artemis's sat a pure white cat, who sat staring at the pink pads of his paws.

"And on," Deimos murmured; the twins clicked away and pressed the button again and in another instant, Luna and Artemis were human again. "One more time to be sure; isolating incidents." They repeated the commands, at one time turning just Luna, another, just Artemis.

The two were both cats when the twins stepped away from their computers and approached the tubes. The felines looked up at them quizzically as they opened the doors, but when it became clear that Phobos and Deimos weren't going to turn them back, Artemis took the first steps out of the tube. As soon as his body passed the threshold he transformed back into a human. Gingerly, Luna followed him out and transformed again. She reached for Artemis's hand as the pair of them looked at the twins for the answer. Serenity stepped forward and joined them.

"Well, we figured it out," Deimos said, attempting to smile.

No one answered.

"The planet Mau, like our Coronis, is special in that it can manipulate the forms of its chosen race," Phobos started, looking at her clipboard as she spoke, "and gives its children the ability to change between those forms at will."

"The planet does this by providing a special type of energy to its people, an energy that radiates in wave form away from the planet to create a field of influence. All of its chosen people within the field can manipulate their forms at will, changing when they desire it." Deimos explained.

"But… when they reach the limits of that field, their ability is taken away from them." Phobos looked sorrowfully at Luna and Artemis, "Without energy from Mau, you two will stay as felines, unable to transform into your humanoid forms."

The words hung heavily in the air. She couldn't help but feel that this was her fault; she had taken them away from their home without understanding the consequences; it was best that they found out here, however; at least now they could find a ship that could return them to Mau.

"But even once you pass that field," Deimos elaborated with a twinge of optimism in her voice, "you have the energy of Mau inherently within yourselves; you could transform back to humans in situations of great stress, anxiety, fear – the really powerful emotions."

Artemis chuckled dryly, "Just the opposite from back home, eh, Luna? Back there you couldn't help but transform when extremely frightened – you flickered yourself this morning when you woke up."

Luna smiled halfheartedly, "If that is the case, though, if we've passed the field of Mau's influence, why didn't I transform this morning? Why are we humanoid now?"

"Inner energy levels, we think," Deimos continued, "when sleeping you're about as relaxed and as comfortable as you can get; the energy levels within Artemis were so low and the energy from Mau so weak here that he just transformed. You both have probably been transforming in your sleep ever since you left the planet, especially during deep REM cycles; you only noticed now."

They nodded comprehendingly. Slowly Luna leaned over and caught Serenity's eye. She knew it – this was where Luna would ask to go home, apologizing for being unable to continue on and build their dreamed Kingdom. Serenity thought to interrupt her, to help her save face by suggesting that they go home, but Luna was too quick, her eyes too compelling for Serenity to cut in before she spoke. "We…" Luna started, "We can still be of use as cats, right?"

"Yeah," Artemis continued, smiling bravely, "Covert agents and such. We'll figure out a means of communication – I bet I could scribble something out using my paws."

Serenity's eyes filled with tears. "You still want to come with me? I'm sure there are ships here that could take you back home –"

"I'll still come, if you still want me," Luna replied.

Artemis took her hand, "_We'll_ still come."

Serenity could only nod her head affirmatively, too overcome by this latest development to speak. Even if they would never be able to go home, never be able to be human – still they want to come with her.

The three found themselves alone that afternoon and evening, a large screen in front of the couch humming with images and making low sounds, showing them how Phobos and Deimos's last show was going. The people of Coronis were not as diverse as those of Mau or Okeanos; most had black hair and tanned skin, but their outfits were insanely different, coming in all shapes and colors. Feathers seemed the popular theme, a trend strengthened by the twins' earlier show of their own Coronid transformation: on cue, they could turn into crows. They did so now, using it as a stunning entrance on stage, crossing their wings and spiraling through the air to land gracefully in their human forms. Unlike on Mau where every citizen could turn into cats, here on Coronis It was a genetically inherited trait; those that could manage the transformation came from a line of rulers from ages long past…

They chatted while watching the event, but the chatter was more mindless than usual, each of them thinking of other things as they commented on Coronis culture. For Serenity, it was their upcoming departure. Roughly four more stops until they reached the system… perhaps five, with the additional two travelers. It wasn't very far at all. They would speak to Phobos and Deimos tomorrow morning about the departure time – the crystal was nearing full strength so they would be able to leave as early as mid-day – and Artemis had mused earlier that the two could practice for the castles by making cabins for them all on the remaining stops; Luna had laughed, teasing him about his aversion to sleeping on the ground. Having a shelter pre-built would be marvelous, but she wasn't sure on how furniture would come into play. The twins pulled from the planet for supplies, while furniture was primarily made of resources found living _on_ the land rather than found _within_ it, such as lumber, down, animal hair and plant fibers, and she wondered if they could manipulate those things as well as they could metals and other heavier elements.

Mostly her thoughts were on the Mauans… and her crystal. After leaving Coronis, it was almost certain now that both of them would start to lose control over their transformations and she wondered; if her crystal could perform miracles, could she dare hope it would alleviate their precarious situation? Could it provide them with the energy of Mau, to keep them in their humanoid forms? She intended to test it, but wondered when would be best. Now? On the first planet where they could no longer sustain human form? Should she wait until she combined her Theia star power with the power of her future home, when the crystal would be complete and at its strongest?

She mused through the possibilities, of what she would try and when, up until she found herself yawning. They worked together to clean up the apartment, throwing away trash from the meal the twins had ordered for them, and went to bed, not waiting up as the twins said the party could last all night.

The next morning brought more discussion as Serenity continued to rest, sitting on the couch as her four companions held discourse over future camping possibilities, any possible necessary supplies, and final farewells, among other things. It was a lovely morning, light creeping through the room and making the building opposite sparkle in metallic blues and reds. She felt rested, she felt complete; her crystal shone in a warm yellow at the end of her staff, reflecting its own recovery. She refused the invitation to go with them as they sought out final items for the trip, instead electing to remain in the apartment with this curious sensation of sheer contentment.

When they returned, all four of them had bags strapped to their backs. They had returned to the campsite to retrieve Luna's own possessions from Mau and had transferred them to her 'backpack' for easier maneuverability. Phobos and Deimos's bags were filled with science literature and blueprints, writing utensils and hand-held computing devices; they were taking their professions with them, as scientists, creators and models, as they remained in their attire from yesterday. Artemis didn't discuss what was in his pack, but looked extremely amused when he refused to disclose its contents when she curiously asked. They were ready to go. The twins had said their goodbyes last night and didn't feel it necessary to continue them today, so Serenity got to her feet using the arm of the couch for support, took her staff in hand, and Phobos and Deimos led them back into the 'elevator' and they continued moving up, stopping at the top floor and getting out on the roof.

The city stretched out all around them and, much to their surprise, it appeared Phobos and Deimos wouldn't be leaving without a sendoff after all. Gathered on other rooftops as far as they could see were their fans, their coworkers, their previous bosses and family, creating a cacophony of farewells and well wishes. Serenity smiled at the sentiment, excited for the pair, as Luna and Artemis's face showed nothing but surprise at the fanfare. Phobos and Deimos, however, were completely in their element. Grasping their hands together, they made one lap around the rooftop, waving in all directions and blowing kisses to their family, giving thumbs-ups to their coworkers, saluting their old bosses, enjoying their last moments of fame. As Serenity watched she became aware of another presence, an energy signature not unlike her own, and her eyes were drawn to a woman, a senshi, making her way calmly across the rooftop.

Sailor Coronis.

Like the twins she had long black hair, her skin tanned and her eyes a shade of garnet. Her tiara was two feathers, placed with the shafts crossing in the middle of her forehead, kept in place by a black jewel that reflected the sunlight. Her attire was in shades of garnet, black and red, rather more revealing than Serenity's own. At first she wondered whether the senshi was there to stop them, but as a smile broke out on her face when Phobos and Deimos spotted her, that fear was put to rest. The twins dashed towards her in their stiletto heels and hugged her fiercely, the crowd around them erupting in louder cheers at the sight as the senshi returned the hug and spoke to them privately.

Serenity approached her, but all Sailor Coronis had to say was "Keep them safe." The two of them shook hands, and the twins left to stand beside Luna and Artemis.

She turned to look at them, her two-world team that would form the foundation for the rest of her life. Artemis, in his white ensemble, straight slacks, turtle-necked long-sleeved top, belts from the bottom of the shirt in a new fashion trend on Mau; Luna wearing her beautiful yellow and black-chiffon dress, the flowers on her dress still looking as lovely as ever, despite their long journey, and her eyes still sparkling as ever with some under-riding joy; Phobos and Deimos, in their matching turtle-necked leotards of red and purple respectively, their dainty black stilettos, the bows at their back and necks; all wore backpacks, the only item of apparel that suggested they would be traveling and not just going to lunch; and then there was her, Sailor Theia, with her sheer wings, visibly and definitely pregnant belly but still in her short skirt and heels. An odd group, to be sure, but a dependable one.

She stood between the pairs and felt hands encircling her elbows, holding on and ready to go. With a nod to the indigenous senshi, she raised her staff above her head. The bubble formed around them and her wings started beating as she willed them upward, moving faster and faster until they broke through the atmosphere. She got her heading from Artemis, and they left Coronis behind.


	17. Chapter 17

Just as the twins had predicted, their stay on Coronis was the last wherein the Mauans retained their humanoid shape without needing to concentrate. Their next planetary stop was made easier by Phobos and Deimos working together to create a small dwelling for them; all they had to do was collect firewood and gather food, and for the rest of the trip they relaxed. They discussed governmental setup, recruitment of citizens, and citizen rights. Phobos and Deimos contributed, all the while doodling building plans on scraps of paper. It turned out that Artemis's bag had been filled with sweets that could last them the remainder of their journey, and they shared these while making plans together. The next morning, when Serenity woke up, Luna and Artemis were both cats. They didn't remain so for the remainder of their trip, but reverted every time they started relaxing.

The following planetary stop had them feeling weak in their humanoid forms, often popping in an out despite their wishes. Talk was quick and purposeful with the Mauans; it was breaking Serenity's heart to see them like this – as if every moment spent as humans would be the last their voices would be heard.

The next stop… they were cats.

She felt terrible about their predicament, but every time she broached the subject, both Luna and Artemis had vehemently defended their will to be here with her. Even now, they were beside her, purring and pointing with kitty paws at different places on the map Phobos and Deimos drew. The plans for her kingdom were solidified, with changes made for Artemis's and Luna's lack of human form, but they were ready. And as two in their group now needed less energy, the crystal seemed to recover faster, despite her daughter's continued growth within her.

"We might not need that last stop, after all," she mused aloud, staring at the crystal in the palm of her hand moments from their departure. Phobos and Deimos, carrying two packs each and a cat in their hands, nodded. Her system was not far now, its star shining brightly in the night sky; and they agreed to try to make it in one final leap.

They flew through space, the pregnant senshi in white and gold leading with one raven-haired twin on each arm, a white cat on the left, a black on the right. In the distance around them they spied orbs of multi-colored light, fields of glittering dust colored like rainbows, and yet the beauty of the wonders around them barely compared to the beauty of the hope before them. Their path led directly to a small yellow star, nearly alone in its neighborhood, seemingly average and extremely ordinary, and yet the promise it held for the travelers made its shine brighter and more lovely than the finest of jewels, the most breathtaking of nebulae.

When they finally broke through the sphere of space debris surrounding the star's system, it was like a dam of excitement had finally broken. With a burst of speed they rocketed through the Oort cloud, bouncing around planetesimals and planetoids, avoiding icy comets and frozen ice. From Oort cloud to Kuiper Belt their trek continued; then, finally, they broke through.

Before them lay a vast sphere of empty space but for one nearly-perfect plane of perfection; they had come out at an angle to this plane. Sailor Theia paused, her breath taken away at the sight. Far beyond where they floated weightlessly was the star, and at intervals throughout the open area were planets. Some she could see even now, their jem-like orbs suspended not too far away from where she stood, but she wanted – _needed_ to know more. She felt outwards for her sailor crystal, then reached inwards so she may see this system for what it was. But as she called upon this power, the universe around her froze.

At first she noticed it in the orbits of the smaller debris, which had stopped completely. She turned her head to the left to see what Phobos made of it, but the red-clad twin and the white feline in her arms were unmoving, staring with intensity into the system, not even breathing. A quick turn to the left revealed the same in Deimos and Luna. Confusion and dread stole over her as she turned back to her perfect system, but the star was blocked now by an imposing figure draped in shadow.

Fear stole through her, turning her blood cold as she started at this empty-eyed being, this humanoid form of incredible heights. He raised a hand towards her, finger outstretched to point at none but herself.

"Child of Light," his deep voice reverberated in the silence of space, as if this were his realm and he could change its properties as he wished, "What purpose do you have in coming here?"

At first she was too frightened to move. Was this it? Was this how her story ended? Could they find another system just as perfect for her needs, or was her kingdom never to come to pass? But no. She would not let that happen – they were too close. They had worked so hard to get here, and they had given up so much to accompany her, to see her dream come true and make a future for her child… Hyperion's daughter. Steeling herself against this new threat, Sailor Theia stood tall, took her staff in hand, and found she could move forward. She flew towards him slowly, leaving her friends where they were, somehow knowing they would be safe, and stopped when she was a mere twenty feet away from the giant. Her answering tone was confident and clear, "I wish to make this our new home, and rule a dead planet as its peaceful Queen. I am Serenity, Sailor Theia, and I mean no harm to you or your system, if you show me the same."

The figure nodded his bearded head, eerie glowing eyes still shining out of the shadow surrounding his face, "I am Chronos, God of Time and Space." As his words echoed anew, she felt suddenly surrounded, claustrophobic in the engulfing presence that held her captive. She would have screamed, but the intensity of the smothering feeling made it impossible. Her mind was no longer her own, and she found herself staring into those blank eyes as memories played themselves out before her:

Her birth on Okeanos, the death of her parents afterwards; living as a well-loved orphan until she awakened at age ten as Sailor Theia, senshi of the sun lighting her world. She was adopted into the palace to live with Princess Eos, newly-awakened Sailor Okeanos, and the Queen. Meeting Hyperion, a knight of the court, and falling in love. Living peacefully, until Necromos reared his ugly head. Their first battle against him, finding the Whistle, the death of the Queen, the death of Eos; finding out she was pregnant, facing off against Necromos alone, Hyperion's death, and her subsequent gain in power. The destruction of Necromos and Okeanos, awakening to a new purpose, her flight through space. The Galaxy Cauldron, and the blessing given to her; Mau. Luna, Artemis, their friendship, their intent to accompany her, and their discussions of this new system and the promise of a new Kingdom. Leaving Mau, travelling with Luna and Artemis, finding Coronis and the twins, discovering their unique powers and recruiting them. Luna and Artemis's condition worsening; finding this system.

The stream of images and conversations played in fast forward ended with the scene she now beheld, the giant form of a God staring down at her. Immediately the tightness left her and she was free to move and breathe once more. She stood there staring at him, fighting to regain her breath with all the dignity she had left within her. He had seen everything, beheld all the good and witnessed the bad. He knew then of her plot to awaken sailor crystals to use as personal guardians to her child, condemning innocents to lives of solitude and unquestioning faith and love. If he truly was a God, how did this fare in his eyes? Would he expel her for such an idea, deeming her a threat on his people?

"You must protect Earth," His command boomed through space, his eyebrows knitted in a force akin to anger – or was it determination. "The third planet from Sol, for it bears life."

Though he was a god, the order he gave her was a request – she felt the power within her to refuse, but was this his way of giving her his blessing to rule this system? The condition with which he would allow her presence to remain? That she would protect the life-given planet from evil was a given already; the very nature of a senshi demanded that life be respected and protected, no matter where it came from. He must know that, having seen her life in its entirety; In answer, she nodded her head, "I promise to do so."

"One further condition," he boomed, "I have watched over the dimensions of time and space for far too long, and wish to have my eternal rest. With your powers, you will awaken a daughter of mine to replace me as Guardian of Time and Space. In return, your future kingdom will hold within it a Door to the Space-Time Corridor, and my daughter's alliance will be to you."

An entrance to the corridors of time would be dangerous to have within her kingdom – who know what sinister agents of Chaos would seek to take command of the door? Yet who better than they to protect it, she and her daughter, who would control the most powerful Sailor Crystal in the universe? It was her duty as a senshi to agree, despite the risks. She nodded, "It will be done."

He nodded and a sound, like the crack of lightning, shattered in her ears. Immediately she was back beside Phobos and Deimos and time moved forward as if nothing had happened, yet in her heart she knew that the meeting with the god Chronos had been real. His daughter would be the first senshi she would awaken; somehow, she knew she would be able to find his future offspring easily.

Without further pause, she aimed for the inner part of the system and took off, intent to view the planet she had promised to protect. As they got closer and closer, planets took shape before them; one in particular caught the eye of Phobos, beside her, who nudged her to nudge Deimos as she pointed down to a red planet beneath them – red was her favorite color, after all. Serenity smiled, but continued down towards the bright blue planet, covered in soft white clouds. Earth. As they approached she noticed that it was not a solitary planet, but part of its own smaller system, locked together with a sizable satellite…

It was pure white with gray-black craters across its surface, tidally locked to the planet so that one side forever faced its living sphere. Instantly she knew that this was it, her planet. Her new home. One might argue that a satellite's star seed would never be as powerful as a planet's, but she felt an inner strength within this moon, as though it had collected spiritual and emotional feelings within itself that made it powerful and strong. … the living creatures of Earth must associate it with love, else some other emotion just as powerful, for their energy had added to the power inherent in the sailor crystal dormant within the white moon; in its own right, it was now just as powerful as a planet's seed; and with the addition of Theia's power… it would be unstoppable.

Without a word, she landed in a great plain of white, her high heels stepping deep into the soft dust on the surface. She stepped away from Phobos and Deimos, taking strides that separated her from them, not quite knowing what would happen. She held her staff high, staring at the crystal alighted at the top, then at her own symbol, the symbol of her guardian star, wishing it a final farewell as she called upon its power one final time. "Theia Star Power!" she beckoned, and immediately her sailor crystal glowed a brilliant and warm yellow.

Power surged all around her, the dust pushed away in every direction to reveal the gray rock beneath. Her crystal shone brighter, pillars of light circling like sunlight as something broke the surface before her. From the rock rose a crystalline obelisk that shot skyward as a powerful tower of benign feelings; as it rose, flowers erupted all around them, growing quickly and spreading far until the crystal structure reached its peak. Still her crystal glowed as the flowers bloomed, providing them with the energy and light necessary for life. Then, at the toes of her shoes, another flower rose from amongst the others – a Lotus bud – and as it opened its petals a silver crystal emerged, rising without heeding gravity, attracted to her Theia crystal. When the two gems touched, a light so bright and healing erupted forth that she heard the twins and the cats cry out behind her, yet she stared on, her silver eyes immune to the display as it was a part of her.

When the light died, her staff was gone, as was her senshi uniform. Sailor Theia had disappeared along with the Star Seed of Theia; there was only Serenity now, Queen of the Moon Kingdom.


	18. Chapter 18

Serenity held out her hand for the crystal and it obediently landed in her palm, glittering softly with a light different from Theia's – cold and clear, almost silver, giving off a feeling of tranquility. She closed her fingers around it and turned to her companions, a thousand thoughts, ideas, and plans running rampant through her mind. Without needing to sustain a transformation and now doubled in power, most of its energy would be put towards its co-mistress, the growing child within her. How much time would she have to prepare for her coming? So much needed attending to, but first, it was time to test the theory of performing miracles.

Phobos and Deimos, eyes wide open, looked at her with awe, but as she stepped as delicately as she could through the freshly bloomed flowers, they unfroze and shimmied out of their backpacks, letting the bags hit the ground softly. She smiled reassuringly at them.

"Can you breathe easily?" she asked.

The twins looked to each other experimentally, then took exaggerated breaths; she could see Luna and Artemis's noses sniffing, too. "I think so," Phobos offered.

"We can speak, at any rate!" Deimos added.

"And I'm not feeling light-headed,"

"Neither am I," Deimos said with a smile, and then, her eyes taking a now-familiar mischievous gleam, she asked, "Is it time to get to work?"

She smiled back, "Just a moment; I'd like to try something first." She stopped a few paces off. "If you two would consent to seeing how far the flowers stretch, it could help to determine the extent of this life-supporting field the crystal created." They nodded, then carefully placed Luna and Artemis on the ground before transforming into Crows. As they flew off in opposite directions, she turned her attention to the Mauans, their cat-faces looking up at her attentively, tails flicking with attention. If the crystal could perform miracles, if it had absorbed certain powers while at the Galaxy Cauldron, perhaps it could mimic the energy output by Mau. But how to activate its powers?

When she used her powers as a senshi, she had to activate her sailor crystal using the name of her guardian planet; but this crystal was no longer tied to Theia, and while it was now of this moon, she wondered if addressing it as 'Moon' would be specific enough. So instead she tried something different. "Silver Crystal," she asked, giving it the name of its appearance, "Please grant my wish and return these Mauans to their true form!"

The crystal began to glow brightly, shimmering with white light, and soon a glittering silver aurora surrounded Luna and Artemis, lifting them into the air far above her head as they shone with multi-colored luminescence. The light faded as they lowered to the ground, but they were unchanged. Had she asked the wrong way, or was their feline state as much of a 'true form' to them as their humanoid appearance? Taking a deep breath, she tried again, "Silver Crystal, please give these two the energy of Mau, that they might retain their human forms!"

The pair glowed, were lifted skyward, but returned to the flowered surface again unchanged. She tried six different times, all with different phrasing, just in case the crystal didn't know what she really wanted. Finally, as the cats started to look defeated, she tried one more time. What she really wanted was to be able to speak with them again – could it not grant her that? "Silver Crystal!" she cried, her words passionate as she tried this one, last time, "This is my wish! Grant them the ability to speak again!"

Her words were ineloquent, her voice more a plea than a command, and yet the crystal reacted just the same. Yet as they rose this time, something was different – amidst the usual glow that surrounded them was a bright disturbance around their heads, and when finally they touched back down again their foreheads were marked with symbols – yellow upward-facing crescents. What -

"My forehead's hot!" Artemis's voice exclaimed, his white cat mouth moving in time to the words as his paws brushed up against his head as if to rub the heat away.

"Artemis! You spoke!" Luna cried out in alarm and surprise – the sound of her own voice startling her so much that, for an instant, she transformed into a human, sitting with her legs splayed on the ground, her chiffon dress spread out around her, her pale hands to her mouth in surprise and the crescent mark on her forehead gone. For a second, Serenity thought that the crystal might have granted her first wish, but that idea faded as Luna returned to her black-cat form, the golden crescent back in place. She shook her head and her fur ruffled, as if mildly disturbed by the transformation.

"You did too!" Artemis returned.

It had worked. Somehow, the glyphs the crystal created allowed them use of human speech. Serenity laughed, the chuckle tired and relieved, "You can talk."

"We can talk?" Artemis repeated, as if not sure he had heard her, his head looking to Luna as if for confirmation.

"We can talk!" Luna repeated happily, dashing over to rub against Serenity's legs, "You did it!" she cried, placing her front paws on Serenity's knees and looking up with an expression of pure delight.

Serenity smiled, but her mouth fell, "But I couldn't make you human," Serenity apologized.

"Serenity, this is better than I could have dreamed!" Luna disagreed.

"Than _we_ could have ever dreamed!" Artemis chimed in, "We can speak! We can now serve you in secret and still be your voice!"

"But your human forms…" she objected.

"Serenity, really… it's alright." Luna affirmed again, her eyes honest and truly grateful. But soon she popped back onto the ground and looked over to the crystalline tower curiously, her gaze drawing the new Queen's attention as well. "So… What do we do first?"

"Well," Serenity considered. Her list wasn't entirely too long, now that she thought about it. She needed to awaken the star seeds of the dead planets around them and cultivate those seeds as sailor crystals. For that, she needed castles on each of the dead planets, and hosts to live on those planets to make the extraction of the crystal easier. So she would need volunteers – she would not kidnap – and… and she would need to find the child Chronos spoke of. She turned her gaze to the planet before them. It was beautiful, mostly blue with areas of green and brown, with white clouds lazily wafting across the globe. It was medium-sized, as far as life-bearing planets went, but that still gave her a large area to search. And perhaps she should find and meet the senshi of Earth… "First, we need to –"

"Get your castle up and running?" Phobos broke in, landing before her and springing back to herself with a grin. "I agree."

"Me, too!" Deimos landed beside them, but the cats caught her eye and she stooped to kneel, lifting Luna from under her arms to examine her forehead. "Phobos!" she called, "Look! This must be the planetary symbol!"

"What?" Phobos dropped, too, and softly prodded the golden glyph, "How interesting! That the crystal should be silver while the mark is golden – that's just..."

"The perfect inspiration for a palace?" one twin looked to the other, excitement mirrored on their identical faces. They stood as one, Luna landing with a look of mild indignation as she trotted back over to Artemis, and both twins posed thoughtfully. "Perhaps silver, to match the crystal?"

"Hmm, I don't know," the red twin mused, "I was thinking classic white, to match the moon itself…"

"You might have something there… the lack of color would make the gardens even more appealing, and that way we could accent spires with other hues to make them pop…"

Serenity watched for a moment as the two thought aloud, then interrupted, "So, did you find out how far the dome stretches?"

"Oh!" they turned to her, "Yes, sorry. It was about two miles in that direction," Phobos pointed.

"And about two that way," Deimos stated, "So my guess is it's a circle about the spire." The twins nodded. "We'll build the palace centered on the spire, I think."

"Well, maybe not _centered_, but definitely close."

"Yes, definitely close."

She smiled as the two were lost in their own world again. "Well, I trust you two to make something that fits," she stated. The two glanced up, nodded and waved off her concern, and walked together back to their backpacks. As they pulled out blueprints and writing utensils, Serenity walked towards the crystalline spire, Luna and Artemis at her heels.

"You were saying?" Artemis prompted with humor, Luna glancing back at the pair of Coronids with her tail flicking.

"I think, first, I need to find the senshi of Earth," she stated.

"The living planet?" Artemis guessed correctly, and Serenity nodded. "Is there an easy way to do that?"

"An energy sweep," she stated. "But it might take a while…"

Time passed. Queen Serenity's energy lines were picking up no signals, but still she tried, casting her them about lightly in hopes that something caught on. Once a full sweep of the planet had been completed, Luna and Artemis now dozing off in the flowers, she tried again, this time with a little more force, and still nothing came up. It was odd, but it could make sense. Their senshi might have passed away recently, leaving the planet without a senshi. No wonder Chronos requested her stewardship. She stood, fluttering her wings, and jumped skyward. She flew farther and farther, past the bubble of habitability, past the gravitational pull of the moon, then the planet, and farther still. Soon she was so high that the system seemed like a toy display to her, the star the size of her thumbnail below her.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, honing in her concentration, and reached _out_wards, letting her considerable energy blanket the space around and below her. She stretched it far, almost to the beginning of the spherical shell surrounding the system, and then probed deep. First, into Earth. If there were a senshi in residence, their crystal would respond to the calls of this Silver Crystal, and yet nothing happened. It was as though she probed an empty entity. There was no star seed nor sailor crystal on Earth, not even that of the guardian star.

That could mean that she would have a stellar guardian for her daughter. It was a selfish wish, perhaps, but the system-wide influence of a stellar senshi would be useful. So she turned her attention then to the star Sol, and reached in deep, seeking out the crystal locked away within.

… and she came up with nothing.

Puzzled, she looked back to Earth, wondering if the pair of senshi for the planet had perished recently. But… it was strange. While she could sense residual powers for both stellar bodies, it was as though Sol's signature disappeared completely, while Earth's just faded, as if journeying to the Cauldron to be reborn. … so, it seemed, she would be without a stellar senshi. She wasn't entirely disappointed, but was a little weary of the husk of a shell the star had become. Without a star seed to call its own, to protect it from chaos… It was similar to Theia now, she realized sadly, and open to infestation. She would need to keep an eye on Sol, as well.

But, now, it was back to sailor crystal hunting. With no Earth senshi, there was no bargaining to be made, but for that one deal with a… she swallowed slowly and continued about her business. Reaching out, then around, then down, then within…

She found two planets between Earth and Sol. One between Earth and an asteroid field, and four beyond the field. All were strong, all were ripe and ready to be born, should the need arise. She smiled. But then she picked up on another signal, another star seed ready to become a sailor crystal, out near the outermost planet. Curiously, she sent out feelers to determine what she could about the stray, and from her sweep she found out that it wasn't a true planet, but a smaller version whose orbit was eccentric, weaving into the system at one point before veering far away, almost near the spherical boundary. The senshi from that planet would not be as strong as her fellows. … unless her powers were augmented. Say… by the bloodline and powers of the god of time. With those powers she could easily match any of the other senshi, no matter what elemental control the small planet was affiliated with.

Her decision was made. That small planet would be the guardian planet of the senshi she would awaken to be heir to the Door of Time and Space. That would still leave her with _eight _senshi, _eight _guardians and protectors for her daughter. She smiled and descended back to her Moon, where she gathered Luna and Artemis and told them of what she had found, all but that final small planet. The less who knew of her deal with Chronos and the existence of the door to the fourth dimension, the better, even if that meant keeping it a secret from Luna and Artemis. She would make it her own duty to find the growing daughter of Chronos and convince the mother to move with the child to that far-away place.

While they discussed strategies for finding and securing volunteers, Phobos and Deimos approached with a master plan for a gorgeous palace, with budding ideas for the surrounding gardens, pools, and fountains, branching off to talk of a city once they finished discussing the grounds, but Serenity stopped them gently. "It's beautiful," she said, "Thank you. But before you two start thinking up a city, I need you to construct the first of the castles…"

An hour later, their plans were set. Phobos and Deimos, at their insistence, would first build the Moon Palace to give them all a base of operations and to house any volunteers Luna and Artemis might drum up on Earth. As they were building, Serenity would take the cats down to a location not too far from civilization that they might find out more about the cultures on the planet, that they all might strategize the best way to go about recruiting settlers for the new Kingdom and the solitary castles beyond. As they investigated, she would wait for Phobos and Deimos to finish then bring them to the farthest planet and they would begin construction on the Castle there, and possibly begin building the castle on the nearest planet after that, as the distance between the two was surprisingly small at the time.

Then she would find Luna and Artemis, discuss their findings, and send them off again to new areas… while in secret she would find the Heir of Chronos. Decided, they ate quickly and set off to their appointed tasks, Queen Serenity taking Luna and Artemis into her arms as they began the descent to Earth.


	19. Chapter 19

As soon as they caught sight of the orange-and-gray tiny planetoid with its partner-moon, both Phobos and Deimos started speaking at once, making observations about the planet that might help them decide which design would fit the appearance best. Serenity paused, content to let them discuss their plans without her, and concentrated, using the new crystal to create a bubble of air around the twins. She moved away, the barrier stayed, and she smiled – this might work after all. The young pair continued to deliberate, and Serenity turned her attention to the planet itself, thinking about the growing child of Chronos and her star-seed status; depending on how old the fetus was, a star seed might already be assigned to it, and their plan would fall to ruin. Could she afford to wait, to leave the crystal now, seek out the child, and eventually return to claim it, hopefully before the Cauldron sent in a seed for the child? Or could she simply…

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and directed the power of the silver crystal out away from her, and then in, deep into the small planet. Farther she reached until… there it was. The star seed of the planet – a Sailor Crystal. How could she obtain it? Tentatively she thought to the crystal, asking for it to pull at the seed, and thought herself for the seed, asking it to come with her, to be born into a senshi that would protect life in this System…

And, slowly, it came.

Euphoric, she continued to ask with her mind, her heart, and pull with the power of the silver crystal, but as soon as the seed reached the surface of the planet, it dissolved again, its power returning to the planetary center as though magnetically attracted. Serenity opened her eyes and sighed, wiping a fine layer of sweat from her brow, observing the twins floating somewhat nearer the surface of the planet, already working on pulling the materials they would need out of its makeup. Holding her crystal in hand, she turned and flew back towards Earth. Perhaps the crystal needed a host immediately as it left the planet itself… she would need to find the daughter of Chronos immediately and find out.

"Serenity!" Luna rushed forward at a run, her paws pumping furiously to meet her. Artemis was less than a step behind, the white cat looking just as determinedly happy as his partner. Serenity touched down in the scraggly field and took a few steps towards them, then, deciding that running would not be a good idea right now and that their expressions were not hinting that they were in danger, she fell as softly as she could to her knees and waited for them to reach her. Luna ran right up to her, placing her paws on her thighs, and with tears of joy in her eyes she exclaimed, "Serenity you won't believe this! There are whole groups of people here who believe that the planets are embodiments of their gods!"

Serenity was speechless – this could make things so much easier… if they were to find a group of devout followers and explained the situation… that the girls would be the embodiment of the planet, and so, too, maybe, an embodiment of their gods… it was almost perfect, like a gift, but Luna wasn't finished yet. "Serenity! Their stories name the Goddess of the Moon 'Selene'!"

"Selene?" she repeated, her heart beating even faster, "but that's so close to…"

"Your name!" Luna exclaimed, her front legs hopping in excitement.

"It's almost like fate…" she breathed, her eyes losing focus at their good luck. Was this the Universe's way of telling her that she was indeed meant to find this planetary system around Sol? She felt like feinting, she was so grateful for all of the good fortune she had come across. … but there was one part of her that wondered why. What was behind this? Was she expected to do something great? … or was this just karma for defeating Necroma?

"And on top of that," Artemis broke in, "the name of the moon itself is "Luna"." She turned her head quickly to him, as if to gauge whether it was just a joke, but his cheeky smile told her he was telling the truth. The miraculous, too-good-to-be-true truth.

"Well, then…" she smiled, and laughed, tucking her worries away for the time being, "Go! Go find out more about them! See if the potential is real! Find a leader of a sect for a specific planet and quietly introduce yourself as my voice!" She reached up and pet their heads fondly. Both pushed back into her hand with love before they ran off.

She used her wings to help her stand and watched until the pair of them disappeared, then turned around to look off in the other direction, wondering where she should go. As she stood there, Phobos and Deimos were creating a castle on the farthest planet, readying for the child of Chronos. She took a deep breath – where should she start? She took to the sky, high enough that she wouldn't be noticed by sunset cloud-watchers below, and just flew. She took a random direction and started off, looking below and ahead of her, enjoying the wind. Every now and again she changed direction for no reason, just looking at the towns and occasional cities that she passed, following rivers and fields. As the sun was finally disappearing completely behind the horizon, she got the sudden urge to land.

It was then that she started to question why. She paused, hovering, and looked down to see a caravan pulled into a loose circle below. Dozens of horses stood tethered off to the side, and a giant fire blazed in the center of the band. She had been led here by the god. At the same time she felt violated, yet thankful – violated because the control was so light that she hadn't noticed; thankful that she wouldn't have to go around asking random women if they had been together with any gods lately.

So she landed, with as much dignity and will power as possible, wondering if he would control her actions in the events following, and walked towards the circle of covered wagons and the fire beyond with as much grace as her long dress, heels, and extremely round belly would allow. Immediately she felt eyes on her, cautious and wondering; long before she reached the nearest wagon she was approached by two men, spotting a child running off towards the center of activity. Lively music played in the background, voices raised in song, hands clapping merrily, and shadows dancing wherever the campfire light reached. However, the general festivity in the air seemed lost on the two fellows who stood together, blocking her path. Their clothing was bright and colorful, with scarves and vests and delicate yet bold jewelry in silver, gold, and a myriad of gems. Their eyes fought to appear strong, but she sensed the cautionary wonder behind their gaze.

She twitched her wings once, the light from the fire thrown around by their iridescence, hoping to draw more attention to them and her place as a person of importance, and inclined her face in a regal nod. She chose to address them first – Eos's mother always started the conversation; watching her, Serenity felt speaking first conveyed a certain amount of control over an exchange, and being a stranger on a strange world, she needed any extra control she could muster. "Good evening," she chimed, turning her eyes on both supposed guards.

They looked to each other in surprise, "Good evening," one replied, hesitantly, his brown eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" the other suspiciously inquired.

She took in a deep breath through her nose and framed her answer, her eyes silent and compelling, trying for all the world to appear as a goddess. "I am Selene of the Moon," she replied, not exactly lying, "And I would enjoy the warmth of your hearth with you." She did not ask – deities do not ask, but rather inform. She was nervous, of course; they had weapons by their side and large muscles bulging on their arms; she would rather not have to fight them. She said nothing more, watching their faces and waiting for their reaction to gauge how this interaction would continue.

Another man approached, this one taller than the other two, with longer, curly dark brown hair streaked with gray. He wore a bright red scarf around the top of his head, keeping his hair out of his face, and when he smiled a glint of gold glittered off of his canine teeth. The long sleeves of his shirt poofed out away from him, hanging stylishly from his arms and gathered at his wrists. He gave her a sidelong look, leaning in for the second guard to whisper something in his ear. Straining her ears, she deciphered "_Selene" "Moon" _and "_Goddess_", and fought to keep the smile off of her face.

"We have heard of you," the man said, straightening, his eyes avoiding hers . He bowed graciously, "I am Shayenra Merconair, leader of this family and Caravan. I would be honored to share a fire with you, Flower of the Night Sky. Please," he offered her his elbow, which she took gracefully, and hoped she wouldn't trip as they walked through the circle of wagons into the campfire area beyond.

Voices chanted merrily to an alien tune as figures danced by the fire and hands clapped to keep the beat of the drums, guitars and tambourines. When finally she passed through the outer circles of arranged carriages, the aura surrounding the campsite fully engulfed her, her blood seeming to sing with the music that so many danced to. Wine and food were passed from person to person as the song sung through their hearts, feet stomping the beat whether seated or standing. Her guide bellowed a call, a lead into the song, and started clapping merrily, arching his shoulder so signal her to follow. She fell into step behind him, walking lightly through the narrow pathway between seated revelers and weaving dancers, aware of the stares and finding none to be overly accusatory or fearful. They must have had unquestioning trust in their leader to not even pause in their song as a stranger walked amongst them.

He took his seat upon a throne of furs, surrounded by people that looked close enough like him to probably be his family, and offered her the seat on the felled log beside him. She nodded her head thankfully to him and sat down as gracefully as she could muster. She threw out her senses all around her, watching the dancers in colorful attire whirl and the occasional green eyes seek to stare at her; smelling the cooked meat and the more delicate aromas of fruit waft about the campsite, a welcoming distraction from the slight smell of horses and sweat; listening to the music and the faint, low voices behind her, the whispers of her nearest neighbors; and feeling the heat of the flames, the pounding of the Earth below her, and the inquisitive fingers stretching towards her wings. She fluttered them once again, more to ward off the curious than to draw attention to herself, and waited to see what Shayenra Merconair intended for her, if anything.

As the song ended, acts of acrobatics nearly taking her breath away as people jumped off of each other to gain higher altitudes, flipping and twisting and turning to miraculously land on their feet with a great smile on their faces, the leader of the caravan stood, spreading his arms wide to the applause. People quieted, looking at him with respect. Forks stopped their scraping, bells stopped jingling; all that could be heard through the relative silence were the horses whickering off somewhere behind them, the branches snapping in the fire, and the dancers panting to regain their composure.

"Tonight," the great man spoke, his voice ringing off of the wagons, "We have been graced with a visitor who wishes to share in our nightly revelry! We have all heard of her but I will be the first to admit –" he turned aside to smile towards her, "I do apologize," he said, loud enough for people to hear but quiet enough to be counted as an aside; he continued in his booming voice, "I had not truly believed until this night. With us sits the Goddess of the Moon, Selene!" There followed a murmur throughout the crowd, of mingled disbelief and wonder, and, finally:

"It appears to me, the Moon tonight is full!" a man somewhere in the crowd cried out. Shayenra looked to the sky to see the waxing face of the moon staring back at him and looked confused, but then the leader's eyes fell back on her and understanding flickered through his eyes. His laugh was like a bark when he realized what the man had meant; Serenity smiled and laid a hand delicately on her growing stomach, arching her brows to show that she understood, too, what the jokester had hinted.

She stood gracefully, thankful for the strength in her legs that she did not falter, and nodded to the crowd. "Thank you for having me, jubilant family of the Merconair. Please," she urged, "continue to celebrate the night."

"You heard her!" Shayenra bellowed jubilantly, and the music started all over again; but before bodies started to move hectically, Serenity caught the eye of a beautiful young woman sitting to their left, a small distance from the main throng, watching her and then pointedly looking away, and Serenity knew that it was this young woman that she had come for.

She turned back to the caravan leader and tilted her head toward the young woman, "Shayenra," she addressed, "Who is that woman?"

The man stood for a second to get a good look, then sat back down, "She is the new wife of my third son; Trinna is her name."

"I would speak with her," she stated.

The man shrugged, his eyes smiling, "It is no concern of mine, Sky Flower."

Taking that for his permission, she wove through the crowd over to the young woman. Her skin, like theirs, was tanned from the sun, her features dark and wonderful, her eyes black yet bright; Serenity smiled, _'So she is whom a God seeks as a companion._' She wore a long dark and full skirt with a shirt with sleeves that billowed, and a vest tied from her stomach to above her bosoms. A bandana kept her long hair from her guarded face. Serenity motioned to her, catching her dark eyes and holding them momentarily before she moved off between two wagons; this conversation was best left private. Obediently, if warily, the girl followed.

"Trinna," Serenity addressed when she stopped, the girl standing a pace behind and averting her gaze, "Are you aware you are with child?"

The young woman's head jerked up, finally meeting her gaze full-on, her emotions transparent on her face: wonder, fear, pride. "This news is wonderful," she stated softly, "a baby is a blessing from the gods; that I have only been with my husband for a short time and find myself to already be with his child is wonderful news, thank you, Moon Flower."

Serenity looked at her, wondering how to continue, resisting the urge to bite her lip as she thought. "Trinna… this child is not one you have with your husband," she continued in hushed tones, the words a secret between them. "Can you remember any other man that has been with you?"

She froze, her face a mask of anger and denial, "No! Only him, only Sherro! Anything other would be impure, and I would be—" she paused, a realization softening her features and her voice, as though a forgotten memory was just then dawning on her, causing her to question her own vindication. "Expelled…" she finished her sentence. In her eyes her heart was breaking, and she looked upon Serenity guiltily. Serenity stared back at her impassively, wishing to help the girl but knowing that this truth needed to surface. The dark-eyed girl broke eye-contact and continued, her voice nearly too soft to hear over the celebrations. "The dream. I had a dream wherein I was visited by a beautiful man and…" she paused, embarrassed, but gained the courage to look back at Serenity, her eyes pleading. "But it couldn't possibly – it was just a dream!"

Serenity shook her head minutely, "Though it might have come to you as a dream, it was real. You were visited by the God of Time, Chronos, and now carry his daughter within you. I—" she broke off as Trinna suddenly burst into tears, her hands reaching up to cover her eyes and stifle her sobs. Her heart falling, Serenity lurched forward to embrace her, bringing the crying young woman towards her to offer what comfort she could. "It's okay," she murmured into the bandana that held back the girl's hair, her hand stroking Trinna's head softly. "It's okay," she repeated, her voice cracking as tears escaped her own eyes.

"No," Trinna mumbled wetly, "No, it's not! They will _expel_ me, Moon Goddess! I will have nowhere to go, nowhere to live! My own family would disown me for being impure, unfaithful!" Though her heart was in her sobs, she somehow managed to stay quiet; Serenity held her tighter, knowing that her strength even now was to protect herself from the family she had been brought in to. If any within the circle saw them or heard them, she would be brought before everyone and made to confess, and her fears would come to pass that quicker. "No one would love me ever again, and I would be contaminated and forced to live with – but—" she pushed back, her hands gripping Serenity's shoulders as she stared up into her face, "You are a Goddess – could you not put a stop to this pregnancy?"

Serenity shook her head, her distaste for the very idea watered with the pity she felt for the poor, frightened girl, "No, but—"

"Than what if –" her eyes looked away, thinking, and came back to her quickly, "what if I raise her as Sherro's daughter? None would know!"

Serenity offered a sad smile, "You would know, Trinna."

The girl's face crumpled as she rushed back into Serenity's full embrace, and Serenity held her there, softly, comfortingly, letting the girl sob silently for a few long moments before she spoke again. "I have a plan for the child, Trinna." The sobbing stopped, and the girl sniffed loudly, "and for you, too, if you would listen." Trinna nodded once into her shoulder, listening. "Trinna, when your daughter is born she will have powers, not only the powers of her father, Chronos, but of a planetary guardian. I would like to take you both up to the Moon Kingdom with me; there you will be taken care of, and you will be given a castle of your own on one of the planets within this system. You would be a Queen as well, Trinna," she paused, "how about that?"

She was quiet, considering the proposal. Certainly, Serenity mused, what she offered was amazing to a girl in her situation – she was giving the girl her own kingdom, a place of power and freedom for her and her daughter; a place of peace, without judgment for being 'impure'. She would live at the Moon Palace for a while, Serenity mused, with those others Luna and Artemis can convince to join us… and when the palace on the farthest, smallest planet is finished in its construction, Trinna would move out there with her daughter and – "No." Serenity blinked, confused, and pulled the girl back to look at her. Her dark face was flushed, her eyes red from crying, but she appeared resolute. "No," she repeated.

"But, why?" Serenity asked, not caring how she sounded.

"I… You want me to be a Queen, be mother to the daughter of a God, live in a Kingdom on the Moon –" Trinna started, but Serenity interrupted.

"You would have your own Kingdom on another planet—"

Trinna shook her head violently, "I don't _want_ my own Kingdom on a planet in space! I want none of those things!" she paused, quieting her voice, "I want to be Trinna, wife of Sherro of the Merconair Caravan, daughter of Lasher and Brianna of the Tacongar Caravan. I want to have Sherro's children, raise to a place of importance within my own family! I want the freedom allowed in moving from place to place, not to be stuck in some Kingdom for the rest of my life!" Her words strengthened her, and while Serenity's heart fell for what she knew must happen, she respected the girl for her strong conviction in what she wanted from her life. The tears like a distant memory, Trinna continued, "I do not want this child, Goddess Selene of the Moon."

Serenity took a deep breath, closing her eyes to steel herself, "Well, Trinna, wife of Sherro of the Merconair Caravan, you _will _have her." Trinna looked rebellious, but Serenity continued, "You will carry her to term, and live with me on the Moon until you give birth to her. If then, after you hold your daughter in your arms and see her with your own eyes, if _then_ you still wish to return to this life, I will allow you to leave."

Trinna's eyes softened, thinking, and finally nodded. Without another word, Serenity took the child by the hand and stalked back into camp, taking a moment to wipe any tear streak from her own cheek before reentering the circle of celebrators. She brought the girl with her back towards Shayenra's thrown of fur, putting a graceful smile on her face as they approached. The man looked confused and intrigued, a dark eyebrow piquing as she came to a stop before them. With a wave of his hand, the music died down and, with it, the movement and merriment of the camp.

She projected her voice for all to hear. "To thank you for allowing me into your camp this night, I wish to honor your family by taking this young woman into my service. She will accompany me to the Palace on the Moon and live with me and my people for three months, after which time she shall return to you."

Shayenra stood, his eyes wide, "One of our own to serve a Goddess… the honor you bestow upon us is vast, Moon Flower, and for the span to be as great as three months makes my heart swell with pride for my third son's new wife. Please, allow me to create for you a tiara of gold, simple yet striking and incredibly beautiful, as I see you right now. This tiara would be the crowning achievement of all of my years as a jewelry maker, as a thanks to you for generosity."

She bowed her head, not knowing any other way to reply to such an offer, "Thank you, Shayenra Merconair, that would be wonderful."

Less than an hour later, the man's hands working swiftly and delicately, Serenity's head was crowned by a delicate golden tiara that stretched across her forehead; in the center of her brow now rested a thin golden upward-facing crescent moon, supported and held in place by a string of tiny golden balls and beautiful pearls. As he promised, it was simple, yet striking and beautiful, and she adored the piece of jewelry as soon as she positioned it on her brow. She thanked him kindly, fighting the girlish urge to jump up and down at being given such a marvelous trinket, and looked around for Trinna. The Romani girl gave her husband one last kiss, then approached her, a small suitcase in one hand. Serenity took hold of her free hand and invoked a small touch of the magic left to her to raise them into the air gently. Her wings beating and the consort of the God of Time in hand, she took to the Moon.


End file.
